The Long Road of Redemption
by MewLuna
Summary: It's been three years after TDWT and the world thinks Courtney has gone missing. Really shes been hiding, sick with herself and the monster she's become. But when fate pushes her back into society can she prove she's changed? DxC Full summary inside
1. How the world thought I went dead

**The Long Journey of Redemption: By Luna Mrow**

**Disclaimer: I don't own TDI or any of its characters, only the plot to the story.**

**Summary: **After the volcano exploded on the island at the series finale of TDWT, all the campers tried to swim for their lives to get to safety. Luckily, everyone of them did. Except for Courtney. She finally decides to do the unthinkable—fake her death and make everyone think she's gone missing. Why? A fresh start. A new beginning. She finally had enough of herself.

Now, three years later, Courtney is living off somewhere secluded, everyone thinking she had gone missing. Now she has changed, she's not the same perfectionist monster she used to be. She also befriended an old retired janitor, who helped her through her change. But now she wants to go back to her old life, just to prove to everyone she's not the same bitch she used to be. Can she really face her old teammates and campers? Most importantly, can she face the one man who made her change in the first place—Duncan?

Follow Courtney on her journey of redemption and all the chaos along the way.

**~X~X~X~**

My name is Courtney Haley Vega. You may know me, depending on if you watch television and have cable, which you probably do, and if that's the case you know me from the popular series Total Drama. The show was on three years straight and had quite the fan base.

Well, I was basically known on the show as the 'prep' that was a perfectionist and always wanted things done right. I dated the polar opposite bad boy Duncan, got unfairly voted off by the geek Harold and was friends with the blonde surfer Bridgette. That was season one. Things started to get hectic in season two: I acted hostile and mean towards the Goth girl Gwen, threatened to sue and take action against Chris and Chef and basically threw a complete fit when things didn't go my way. I was a snob, a manipulator, a user.

Finally it was season three that hit me hard. I traveled all over the world, sang and danced, competed against the other campers. I still acted rude to Gwen at first, but then something happened between the two of us and we became really good friends. Perhaps we bonded over our dislike for Heather, who knows. But at least Heather knew she was a bitch and didn't deny it. I was still under the illusion everyone 'liked me'. Right.

Anyway, the trouble didn't start until my boyfriend Duncan came back on the show when Gwen and I stole him from a London raid. And just to go into a little detail with Duncan and me, we had our ups and downs through the past two seasons. But I was still under the impression he liked me. I was wrong. He liked Gwen now. But why shouldn't he? Gwen didn't try to change Duncan into something he wasn't. Gwen didn't kick him in the balls over the past two seasons. Gwen didn't leave him with a hurt leg and try to cash out on a million dollars in the series finale of Total Drama Island. Gwen didn't fight with Duncan almost every minute.

I did.

But even then I didn't think anything was wrong with me. I didn't think anything was wrong with our relationship. So imagine my surprise when Tyler announced during a challenge in Greece that Duncan kissed Gwen. Oh yes, not the other way around, _he _kissed _her_. I was mortified. I was pissed. I cried and I swore hatred on those two.

I didn't just swear hatred, I swore _revenge. _And funny thing about revenge; it _possessed _me. I got Gwen kicked off the show but that wasn't enough… I wanted Duncan gone too. It hurt, it hurt for him to suddenly love me and then turn around and hate me. He wanted me gone as much as I wanted him gone—that hurt. But I wasn't about to let it show on my face. I wasn't about to show weakness.

Admittedly, I felt bad about the Alejandro-Heather fiasco. There wasn't any true attraction I felt for Alejandro. He was using me, but I was using him to try and get over Duncan… and maybe to make Heather go crazy. That was the person I used to be; I took advantage of people's emotions and their weaknesses.

Why? All because I wanted to be famous. I wanted money. I was so petty then. It makes me sick to my stomach to think I used to be like that.

So there we were all the campers at the top of a Hawaiian Mountain, waiting to see who would win season 3, Alejandro or Heather. The volcano starts rumbling, it explodes, and then we're all running out into the water trying to swim for our life. I remember Chris and Chef's boat sinking and laughing about it. Then I remember the rocks falling from the island and everyone trying to swim for their lives.

It was then I had my breaking point. Everyone hated me. No one on the island was my friend, not even Bridgette, even though we weren't on bad terms. All the fans watching the show either hated me and were supporting Duncan and Gwen, and the other half were supporting me and Duncan. But just me, Courtney, as a person… everyone hated me. Why shouldn't they?

So I did the unthinkable. While everyone was swimming to safety on the opposite side of the island, I kept swimming away from land. There was so much salty sea water around me. I just kept swimming, away from everyone, away from the cameras, away from my past.

I hated myself. I hated the monster that I had become in the sixteen years I've been alive. This was it for me, a fresh start, a new beginning, and an escape from who I used to be. The ocean water was getting cold as the day turned to night. I knew there would be rescue boats and search parties looking for me. But I didn't want to be found. For all I cared, Courtney could be dead to the world.

Because I was dead to myself.

And that was the first step in my long journey of redemption.

**~X~X~X~**

God must have still been looking out for me. When my lips were turning blue from the icy ocean and unconsciousness was claiming me, an old fisherman saw me swimming in the water and pulled me into his boat with fishing net. "Who are you young lady?" he questioned when I had regained consciousness. I was wrapped in a blanket and his boat was almost at the shore. He looked to be fifty-five or older, with graying hair, wrinkles, bright brown eyes, but a smile and a warm heart that made him seem thirty.

"Courtney Vega," I answered carefully. "Where am I?"

"In my boat, I just pulled you to safety; you were out in the ocean freezing to death. I'm Sam Whittaker, but you can call me Sam."

"Thanks," I mumbled. It then hit me that this old Sam geezer probably already knew who I was and knew I was famous. "Please don't call the Total Drama Company, the last thing I want is cameras in my face," I groaned.

Sam gave me an odd stare. "Total what?" he asked.

"Total Drama, the television show I'm in."

"You're an actress?"

"Yes! You've never seen my show?"

"Sorry kiddo, I don't have cable."

_Good, _I had thought, _that means he doesn't know what a bitch I am. _

"So why don't you want your camera crews to find you?" he asked.

"I want them to think I've gone missing."

"Missing? A pretty girl like you shouldn't talk like that! Why would you want something as crazy as that?"

And that's when I told Sam all about the past three seasons of Total Drama. I already seem out of character, don't I? The old Courtney would've told them old man none of his damn business. But I found it comforting to vent out my feelings. And he never once judged me, never once made a comment. He did ask why Duncan had a Mohawk and I just laughed and said it was because he was a punk. And after I finished my story, I told him why I want everyone to think I'm missing, or dead even.

Then Sam looked at me and he smiled. "It sounds to me like you need a break," he said. "A break from society, a break from all the people you know. It sounds like you need to find yourself. You're lost. You've spent your whole life striving for what you think is perfection. You don't know who you are. And when you don't know who you are kiddo, no one does."

Fate would have it that Sam actually was vacationing in Hawaii and he lived in Canada. Perhaps it was also fate that put the crazy idea in my head that I should stay with him. It had to be fate, because the old Courtney would have never considered staying with an old man she just met and talked to for three hours. Never ever.

Sam had just one condition: tell my parents what I was doing. "You can't escape family Courtney," he had said. "And trust me; you don't want to cause your family heartbreak if you make them think you're dead."

I called my parents the next day and told them I wanted to live on my own. They were harsh at first, but when I told them why they finally agreed. I made them swear not to tell my friends or anyone at all. They agreed not to and if they press ever questioned them they'd say no comment.

So here I am now living in a secluded house a mile away from the old man Sam. It's been three years since the TDWT escapade. And now I want to do the unthinkable—I want to make a comeback.

**Author's Note:**

**Hello TD lovers, I'm back, after a long hiatus. This is indeed a Courtney-centric fic but it becomes a DxC. Courtney is being harsh on herself on purpose. In my opinion Duncan is just as messed up too. But the main focus of this fic is redeeming Courtney's character, with of course more plot twists and Duncan. She probably seems a little OOC, but don't worry, she kept her wit and her smarts. **

**If you like this story, please review and I'll continue. Don't worry, there will be humor, fluff, action and Duncan in later chapters. This was kind of a summary chapter, the next ones will be when the plot begins. Please review and thank you for reading. **

**~Luna **


	2. You've got baggage!

**The Long Road of Redemption: By Luna Mrow**

**Chapter Two: You've got baggage!**

**~X~X~X~**

I could feel the rays of the sun seep through my window and hit my still mocha colored skin. With a yawn my onyx eyes opened and I sat up from my pillow, blinking rapidly to gain my morning vision. When I was at least half conscious I turned to my alarm clock; 7:17 A.M.

The nice thing about living alone is total freedom when choosing to sleep in or not. I was tempted to go another hour, but I had a lot to do this morning so I got out of my white sheets and started trudging slowly to the bathroom.

As I've said, three years have passed, so I was nineteen now. I still looked the same but somehow no one has been able to recognize me as Courtney. No one. Well maybe I didn't look the same—my hair was darker, I stopped coloring it so now it was a darker brown shade and grew out longer to halfway down my back. My body was still the same; my butt was still as big as before. Now my outfits were mainly ruffled skirts (not the slutty looking kind) and cute tees and scoop neck tank tops. I ditched the whole 'looking professional' prep look, it wasn't really my style anyway; I dressed that way because I thought it made me look sophisticated.

When I looked in the mirror I still saw Courtney. There was a part of me that was relieved people didn't recognize me, the thought of being stalked in public and people saying, "Hey you're Courtney from Total Drama!" was annoying. But on the other hand, how could they _not _recognize me? It's not like I had major surgery.

Steam filled the bathroom as I turned off the hot water of the shower. I wiped away the foggy mirror and looked at my reflection. "Still Courtney," I murmured to myself. After putting on a light shower of eyeliner I got dressed in one of my favorite black skirts and a white tee with a picture of a jar of peanut butter and a jar of grape jelly, the words soul mates underneath the two. That shirt always made me smile. I slipped on my white flip flops and went downstairs in my kitchen to get breakfast.

Living alone had its ups and downs. I guess for someone independent like me it wasn't that bad. It was nice that I could paint the walls of my house any color, put my furniture anywhere I wanted it, buy the foods I wanted to stock my fridge. However it was overwhelming when I had to vacuum, dust and mop my whole house by myself and when paying bills were entirely up to me. Oh well, I had a job at Applebee's as a nighttime waitress (and yes, the old Courtney would have NEVER lowered her standards and work at Applebee's but it was a really fun job). My parents also offered me money if I ever needed it, but so far I've never needed to accept their offer.

Well now that you have an idea of how my life is, so I can get into the actual story. I guess you could say this whole thing began with a simple click of a button on my TV remote. Every morning I always absentmindedly turn on the TV while I get myself a bowl of cereal. And Fate would have it that the first channel it went to was the TV guide network. Fate would also have it that when I sat down to eat shredded wheat and actually turned to pay attention to the screen that I actually saw what show they were playing on channel 132.

**Total Drama Reunion Show!**

I'd be lying if I said I didn't care. I'd also be lying if I said I didn't immediately grab the remote and turned to channel 132. I was so hurried to get the remote that I almost knocked over my glass of orange juice. The channel immediately flipped over and I felt my stomach flip over as well. Damn it. It was a commercial. I took the commercial time to gobble down my cereal and gulp down my orange juice, so I could sit down at my couch and watch the show intently.

"And now back to Total Drama Reunion!" said the narrator's voice on the TV.

The show came back and Gwen appeared on screen. She looked the same as three years ago, same blue colored hair and pale skin; you could still tell she was older though. "How did you feel about the three seasons of Total Drama?" an interviewer asked.

"It was a freaking roller coaster," she answered with an attitude to her voice. "Chris put us through so many life threatening and ridiculing challenges. Really, I'm just glad I'm off the show."

"What was your favorite season of the three you starred on?"

"Did you hear me? All three seasons were TORTURE." Gwen crossed her arms and blew a strand of hair out of her face. "But I guess if I had to choose a favorite it'd be Total Drama Action."

My hand clenched into a fist; in other words, the season she got closer and spent the most time with Duncan.

"Why was it your favorite?" the interviewer asked.

"Because I got voted off towards the beginning and didn't have to suffer," Gwen answered. "Now get out of my face. Chances are you're an intern working for Chris or something." She closed her front door in front of the camera.

The camera screen changed and it showed Harold at a Sci Fi convention dressed as Spock or some guy from Star Trek. He was still the same nerd. "What has your experience on the three seasons of Total Drama taught you?" a different interviewer asked.

"How sadistic reality TV show hosts can be," Harold answered with a cringe. "But really I should be thankful, it's because of the show that people got to see my awesome beat boxing skills and learn about all my other skills. Now the world knows how awesome Harold Norbert Cheever Doris McGrady the Fifth!"

_Click!_

I turned off the TV. This is insane, my breathing was suddenly harder, my heart was beating faster and my hands were clenched into fists! I thought I was over everyone at the island! I thought I had grown past them, moved on, but apparently I wasn't! Damn it! It wasn't fair. How can I still have issues with them? How?

Grabbing my jacket I ran out my front door almost forgetting to lock it. After that I started running full speed down the neighborhood I lived in, running down the white sidewalk pavement. Ten minutes passed and I finally came to an old white colored house with a lavender roof and door. "Sam? Are you awake? It's Courtney! I know it's early!" I shouted, knocking at his door.

"Come on in!" he replied. I took his spare key from under his welcome door mat and came in his house, shutting the door behind me. He was in his kitchen making oatmeal. "You look like you've seen a ghost," he said.

_Yeah, try two, _I thought to myself. "Sam, you'd say I'm different, right? You'd say that I've changed over the three years you've known me?"

"What's wrong Courtney?"

I sat down at the chair near his kitchen table. "On the TV there was a Total Drama Reunion show," I muttered. "I saw Gwen and Harold being interviewed. And just watching it made my blood boil. How can I still have these feelings towards my old cast mates? I thought I moved on, I thought I was better…"

"You're so hard on yourself Courtney," Sam said. He walked into his living room and flipped on the TV. "What channel was it on?"

"132."

_Click! _

My heart immediately sank. On the screen was _Duncan. _He still looked like the punk he's always been. His piercings were still there, his eyes were still as gorgeous as they come, his hair was still mowhawked with neon green—but somehow he looked even more handsome than ever. "What was your favorite season out of all three on Total Drama?" an interviewer asked.

"Total Drama Action, that was the season I actually won the mill," Duncan replied sarcastically.

"But you supposedly split that million with Courtney, didn't you?"

My eyes widened. My name was mentioned.

Duncan looked away from the camera for one moment. "No comment," he replied in a harsh tone. "Now get the hell out of my face."

The camera scene changed. Chris was now on screen. "Want to see all the old campers live? Come to the Entertainment Center in Canada and see the live reunion!"

_Click! _

Sam turned the TV off. "I still don't understand why that boy has his hair so weird," he muttered. I'm sure he was trying to make me laugh and lighten the mood, but I wasn't going for it. My eyes were still wide with utter shock. How did Duncan feel about me? Did he still hate me? "Courtney," Sam said, bringing me out of my thoughts.

I looked up at him. "Yeah?"

"Why are you still at my house? You have a reunion to go to!"

"What?"

Sam laughed. "Do you know _why _seeing your old cast members upset you? Because you still have _issues _with them. And when issues aren't addressed they become baggage and sometimes baggage stays with you your whole life."

"Sam they think I'm missing! Probably dead now that it's been three years! I can't just show up and say 'hey guys, funny story, turns out I wasn't dead, I was just hiding from the world'!"

He laughed. "Then just go as an audience member. Watch in the crowd. Don't tell me you're not in the least bit curious how everyone is doing."

"You're actually serious. You want me to go to their reunion show! You want me to show up, and face all my old teammates! You really want me to do that?"

"No."

"But you just—"

"Courtney, ever since the day I rescued you on the boat in the seas of Hawaii I've wanted one thing: you to be happy." Sam gave me a soft smile. Tears started to form at the edge of my eyes. "You've changed Courtney. You're stronger, kinder, so much more than what you used to be. But you've still got problems with your old cast members. At least try and get them solved."

I swallowed hard. "Okay." I wiped away a few tears. "If I'm going to be there before the crowd I should start driving now."

"One more thing Courtney?"

"Yes?"

"Bring back souvenirs."

**Author's Note: **

**Ah. I feel like I can really get into the complicated character of Courtney. The chapter was supposed to parody 'You've got mail!' XD Thank you to everyone who reviewed this story! I appreciate it so much! Please review and thank you for reading! **

**~Luna **


	3. Oh shit it's HIM

**The Long Road of Redemption: By Luna Mrow**

**Chapter Three: Oh shit… it's HIM**

**Really quick warning: Language will ensue**

**~X~X~X~**

"_Oh come on, you're telling me you don't want to get one drink with me? I'm famous doll, in case you haven't noticed." _

_I scoffed but couldn't help but smile. Duncan didn't lose his charm after three years. "Famous or not I'm pretty sure you're not 21 for a drink," I replied. He was probably twenty now, he was a little older than I was._

"_At least split the taxi with me. I'll pay," he offered, tilting his head towards the yellow cab a few yards away. The driver honked the horn impatiently. "Shut up we're coming!" Duncan yelled. _

_Did I really want to get into a cab with Duncan? My ex boyfriend? The guy who basically hated my guts last I saw him three years ago? The guy who cheated on me, humiliated me on television, and stepped on my heart with his stupid red converses? _

"_What's your name anyway sweetheart?" he then asked, wearing that stupid smirk of his. _

_It suddenly occurred to me; he didn't recognize me. True, the world thought I was missing and some presumed dead, but Duncan DATED me! Shouldn't he of all people know me? If he did know I was Courtney would he stop being nice to me? Go right back to hating me? _

"_Doll?" Duncan asked again when there was silence. _

"_Haley," I replied. Okay __technically__ I'm not lying, Haley is my middle name. He never asked for my first. I'm on the thin lines of the truth, but I was telling the somewhat truth. _

"_Well Haley, do you want to take a cab with me or not?" _

"_Why are you so eager to have me ride with you?"_

_The smirk on Duncan's face disappeared. "I dunno…" he mumbled looking away from me, "You… kind of… remind me of someone." _

**~X~X~X~**

**(Three hours earlier)**

I was finally in the audience of the Total Drama Reunion show. My seating was pretty decent I was towards the front row on the left edge. When I was getting my tickets and claiming my seat there was a part of me that was worried some crazy fanatic would recognize me. But that never happened, everyone thought I was just some person who was a fan of Total Drama. There were TONS of fan girls, some of them wearing 'Gwen wigs', shirts with the Canadian leaf like Owen, signs that said 'Marry me Trent!' and some guys wearing fake mow hawks like Duncan. I finally got settled into my seat while holding a cold can of coke.

There was one girl who sat next to me. She didn't look older than ten and she wore a shirt that said 'DxC' inside of a giant red heart. "What does DxC mean little girl?" I asked her.

"Duncan Courtney!" she exclaimed happily. "They were my favoritest couple on Total Drama!"

There was a part of me that wanted to tell here there was no such word as 'favoritest'. Instead I laughed and asked, "Why did you like them as a couple?"

"Because they were both opposite and from two different worlds, yet they still fell in love with each other. They were meant for each other!"

"Oh shut up Raquel, Duncan Gwen is the it couple," another little girl who looked a little older snapped. "Courtney was so mean to Duncan; he had every right to cheat on her."

"Shut up Grace! No one deserves to get cheated on. Plus Duncan and Gwen broke up two years ago. Gwen is dating Trent again, so in your face!" The little girl Raquel turned to me. "Who's your favorite couple miss? Miss? Hey! Miss you're soda is going to pop!"

Suddenly I was brought back to reality and I realized I was squeezing my coke can so hard that it was starting to dent in, and since it hadn't been opened yet it would have exploded. "Sorry," I mumbled. "Is it true? Is Gwen dating Trent now?"

"That's what the tabloids say," Raquel answered. "Apparently Gwen cheated on Duncan with Trent and now they're dating."

"Good! Now that bastard knows how it feels to get his heart kicked in the ass!" I yelled angrily. The two young girls looked at me with wide eyes.

"Grace, what's a bastard?" Raquel whispered to her sister.

"It's a bad word. Never use it. I'm sorry," I said, burying my face in my hands. Okay, it's very clear I still have unsolved baggage with my old cast mates. People who don't have baggage don't almost crush their coke and shout loudly in public. Luckily nobody noticed my outburst, because right at that moment, Bridgette walked out on stage.

The crowd immediately started to clap and cheer as my old friend Bridgette made her way to the microphone. Geoff joined her, still looking the same and wearing his cowboy hat. "Hello Total Drama fans!" she exclaimed cheerfully. The surfer girl looked the same, but if I wasn't mistaken, I could've sworn I saw a ring on her finger. "Thank you all for coming to the reunion show. Chris and Chef are running a little late, but we've got all the cast members here and we're ready to party!"

"Yeah dudes!" Geoff exclaimed excitedly. "Let us introduce our first round of cast members: Beth, Lindsay, Trent, Katie and Sadie everyone!"

Clapping erupted as the five Geoff listed walked out on stage. Almost all the fan girls were going gaga over Trent, as he waved to the crowd and sat down. "Noah, Izzy, Eva, DJ, and Heather!" Bridgette announced. Heather walked out with the same contempt expression on her face, while Izzy was trying to jump on Noah's back for a piggy back ride, while he kept trying to shove her away. Seeing those two made me smile and shake my head. Izzy and Noah were crazy. Well, Izzy was crazy and she drove _Noah _crazy.

Five minutes passed by, and one by one I saw all my old campers. Alejandro was still recovering from the volcano accident, and Sierra was still ogling over Cody. Gwen looked like she did on TV and sat down next to Trent, locking their fingers together happily. The idea of Gwen cheating on Duncan with Trent was shocking to me. Was that really the truth? Or were those just tabloids or something like tha—

Oh shit… it's HIM!

The last one out and to join the rest was Duncan. He wore jeans with holes and scratch marks, a black T-shirt with a skull on fire design and a black long sleeved shirt under, green converses, and of course, he still had his green mow hawk. Then again, he wouldn't be Duncan without it. He plopped down on a seat next to DJ and Leshawna, with an expression on his face like he'd rather be anywhere but here.

What happened next really surprised me. "Unfortunately, there was one cast mate who will not be able to join us. Courtney, who disappeared after the volcano explosion three years ago in Hawaii," Bridgette said solemnly. Everyone bowed their heads for a moment in silence in respect for me… except Duncan. I watched him, it was like his piercing blue eyes were looking out into space or something like that.

The respect for me was broken when Geoff exclaimed, "Alright dudes! Let's get this reunion going!"

Everyone started cheering all over again. I remained in my seat, still dazed at the man I used to date.

**~X~X~X~**

To my surprise, the reunion show was going to last a week, and start every night at 7:00. Then again I shouldn't be too surprised, it is summer and I'm sure Chris and Chef want to make as much money as they possibly can. There was no way I could take this for seven straight nights. Tonight is the only night I'm staying here and then I'm going home.

It had already been an hour and finally Chris and Chef showed up. They proceeded to ask each camper questions and let the audience ask some. As interesting as that was (which it really wasn't) I decided to ditch the place. This is a useless waste of my time. I shouldn't have come here.

Getting up from my seat I walked out of the audience and back into the parking lot. It was probably 9:00 at night, but it was summertime so who cared? As if my night couldn't get any worse, when I got to my car I saw I had a ticket on it, because the timer in my toll had run out. "Eighty five dollars for going twenty minutes over time? You have got to be freaking kidding me!" I screamed loudly, throwing my ticker down. I started stomping on it, and released a heavy sigh of aggravation.

Tonight has not been my night. AT ALL.

I continued to stomp on it with all I had. "I think the paper is dead sweetheart." My eyes widened. I knew that voice. Holy shit. Slowly I turned around… my heart started to beat faster… and sure enough, there was Duncan. He was standing a few yards away from me, wearing his smug smirk.

"Y-you're…" I started to stammer.

"Yeah, I know who I am, sorry not in the mood to sign any autographs," he said.

My composure was regained. "Good, I don't want your autograph," I retorted. "And I'd kind of appreciate it if you wouldn't just stand there and look at me like a creep."

He laughed. "You obviously don't care if you're talking to a famous person or not."

"No, I really don't. Everyone else might give a shit who you are and what you've done, but me, no, I could really afford to care less." By now my voice had taken its dangerous tone.

"Ouch. No need to be a bitch. Damn you must have cared to some degree if you even bothered to show up to a freaking Total Drama Reunion."

The fact he called me a bitch was almost enough for me to claw his eyes out. _Breathe Courtney, _I told myself, _You are acting like a bitch. Relax. _ "Sorry," I said. "I didn't mean to snap like that, I've had a shitty day. If you wouldn't mind, could you leave me alone?"

"I've had a shitty day too doll. How about you let me buy you a drink?"

_~Present~_

So here I was, in the same taxi as Duncan. I didn't need to be psychic; it was only a matter of time before the shit hit the fan…

**Author's Note:**

**Lol sorry for saying shit so much XD I can see Duncan and Courtney (especially Duncan) being potty mouths. Lol potty mouths. Funny. XD Anyway, update will probably be Friday or Saturday, either one. Thank you for reading and please review!**


	4. All kinds of awkward

**The Long Road of Redemption: By Luna Mrow**

**Chapter Four: All kinds of awkward **

**~X~X~X~**

"Where to?" the taxi driver asked once I had gotten in the backseat beside Duncan.

"Neon Blue Mix Bar, I forgot the address, do you know where that is?" he replied.

The driver scoffed. "Please, that's the biggest club in Canada, everyone knows where that is."

"Hey! I never agreed to go to a bar with you," I snapped.

"Oh come on babe, its Friday night, summertime and you look like you need to have a good time." Duncan smirked, crossing his arms as he turned in my direction. I knew what he was doing, he was checking me out, it didn't take a rocket scientist to know he was looking at me up and down. There were five glorious silent minutes that passed before he said suavely, "Tell me about yourself."

Okay, this was downright ridiculous. Duncan didn't know I was Courtney, he didn't know I was the girl he dated three years ago and he certainly didn't know I was the one he couldn't stand. A part of me felt guilty I hadn't told him I was Courtney yet. But perhaps that's because if I did he'd go right back to hating me. Maybe if I let him believe I was Haley he'd tell me things he'd never tell Courtney.

In other words deceive him. _Great. _I haven't changed at all.

"Not much to tell," I finally said after having my mental debate. "Just came out of a Total Drama Reunion show."

"Thanks doll, I knew that much about you. How long have you been a fan of Total Drama?"

"Oh, you could say I've been a fan since the very beginning." I couldn't help but smirk; still technically not lying.

"Who was your favorite to watch on the show?"

"I liked Bridgette." Still not lying.

"Yeah, how about me? You enjoy watching me?" Duncan asked, looking at me straight with his teal blue eyes.

"For the most part." Still not lying.

"Which part about me didn't you like?"

"Why do you care? I'm just one fan compared to hundreds of other Duncan lovers. It's not such a big deal to hear what I think, is it?"

"Well now I care more because you're purposely avoiding my question." Damn it, Duncan may not have been the smartest when it came to school smarts, but when it came to people (especially me) he could read me like a book. "Come on, I'm interested, what didn't you like about me on Total Drama?"

"Hmm… I thought it was kind of shitty of you to cheat on your girlfriend Courtney."

That comment seemed to make him back off for a minute. There was a slight pause before he replied with no more charm, "Well she did shitty things to me too." The tone of his voice almost had this sadness to it, a frustration to his tone, something that I hadn't recognized before.

The old Courtney would've yelled at him and try to defend herself. The old Courtney would have tried and pin all the blame on him. But me… I knew he was right. "I wouldn't doubt if she did," was my reply.

"TDWT was a waste of my time anyway. I should have never gone out for it," he said.

"It was pretty bad," I smiled. "Chris was even more annoying than usual." My eyes widened. "At least, what I saw on TV," I said quickly. Duncan laughed. The taxi pulled up on the curb and when I looked outside the window I could see a full house of party goers waiting to go in the club. "Won't we need to show them our ID before going in? We're not twenty-one."

"Don't worry, I'm famous remember? Come on, follow me." He got out of the car, walked around the front and paying the taxi, then opening the door on my side for me.

"Wow, how gentlemen and out of character of you," I said.

"How would you know this is out of character for me?"

"You hardly seem like the guy who opens doors for people."

"Yeah? Well you hardly seem like the type who goes out and has fun."

"You're right, I'm not."

"Well you're right too, I don't open doors for people." Duncan smirked and then took my hand in his, lifting me up out of the car seat and pulling me close to him. "For you, I'd make the exception."

This was wrong, this was wrong, this was WRONG. I can't keep leading him on! But damn it, I've missed this. I missed this Duncan; the Duncan that liked me, the Duncan that was nice to me. I went three years without seeing him or talking to him. At least one night, just a few hours, a few hours and then I'd tell him the truth. Then he could go right back to hating me.

My hand went on his chest and I softly pushed myself back a few feet. "We going to party or what?"

"Of course," he grinned. He took my hand and led me through the front door. "Sup Gene," he said to the security guard at the front door.

The huge man and head of security nodded. "Hey D. Who's this?"

"A lucky lady who's come to have fun," Duncan answered. I just smiled weakly.

"Alright, y'all have fun now."

"Trust me, we will." Duncan then led me into the club.

"How is it you can get past security without them checking ID?"

"Eh, I've been coming to this club awhile. Gene really does think I'm over 21, but when I first met him I smooth talked him and made him forget he needed to check my ID. So whenever I come here Gene is usually working, and since he already assumes I'm over 21 he doesn't ask for it. Plus whenever I get baseball tickets I give them to him. So you could say it's a fair bribe."

"No, it sounds criminal."

"Criminal is my style. Haven't you watched my show?" Duncan laughed evilly and sat us down at a table. The whole club was playing loud happening music, crowded with people dancing (or should I say grinding suggestively like perverts), waiters walking around serving drinks, neon shining lights, and even couches and tables for people to sit.

"Please tell me you don't plan on getting wasted," I said. Then again, this is Duncan we're talking about. The guy who steals, breaks stuff and gets in plenty of fights. Why shouldn't he drink till he's smashed even if he's underage?

"Don't worry babe, I just need a few beers to loosen me up… unless of course you want to get wasted with me?"

"No thanks."

"I thought so." He ordered two beers from the waitress and a basket of breadsticks. When the waitress left it was once again just the two of us. The song playing was 'Hey Baby' by Pit-bull and T-Pain. "You wanna dance?"

"No thanks. I don't dance." Okay that was a lie. But basically everyone on the dance floor were dirty dancing and grinding. The old Courtney would never dance like that and the new Courtney still won't. That's just not my style, new or old. "So… what have you done after TDWT ended?" I asked, trying to start up conversation.

"Not much. Been in trouble with the law a few times for speeding tickets, road rage, and I was accused of stealing some guy's car. But as far as television I just said hell with it."

"Well surely you still have part of your mill from when you won TDA?"

"Some."

"Are you… dating anyone?"

It felt a bit awkward to ask him that. Maybe I shouldn't have, technically it's not my business.

"Why do you ask?" he smirked.

"Don't be a pervert. I'm just wondering."

"Why are you wondering? Do you find me… _interesting_?"

Yup, there was Duncan, still full of himself. "Well you cheated on Courtney so I just wanted to make sure you weren't being unfaithful on anyone with me."

"Ouch. That's a low blow."

"I'm being honest, aren't I?"

"For your information, I'm never going to cheat again, and no, I'm not seeing anyone."

There was a pause.

"Weren't you dating Gwen?"

"Don't you read the tabloids doll? She's dating Trent now." His voice was annoyed, not at me, but it also sounded angry.

"No… I don't read the tabloids. Sometimes you can't trust what they say." Like my face on the cover of Star magazine with the giant words 'MISSING' on the front and 'presumed dead' beside it.

There were a few silent minutes and we listened to the song 'Just Can't Get Enough' by Black Eyed Peas play. The waitress then brought the beers and breadsticks. "Look… I didn't mean to ask you something personal. It's really none of my business," I said.

He tilted his head to the side and looked at me thoughtfully. "You… are so… bizarre…," he replied.

"Excuse me? _I'm _bizarre! Just what do you mean by that?"

He laughed. "You're also fun to tease. Has anyone ever told you how cute you look when you're annoyed or angry?"

"Yeah. My old boyfriend."

"Mhm." He took a long drink of his beer, nearly finishing off the bottle, then burping loudly. "And what was your old boyfriend like doll?"

_I cannot believe this is freaking happening__. _

"He was a lot like you," I answered, smiling almost smugly.

"Really?" Duncan asked, smirking playfully. "Was he as good looking as me?"

"Oh I'd say it's about a tie."

"Interesting. And just how attracted were you to this guy?"

"The attraction was mutual. He would constantly flirt with me though, even though I tried to tell him I wasn't his type. We eventually hooked up though."

"Uh-huh. And tell me, what was this guy's name?"

_Oh shit. _Okay, I'm pretty sure Duncan is tipsy right now, but he's not an idiot. "Psh… names! So overrated!" I exclaimed.

"You're right, I'm sure he was a total loser." He just called himself a loser_. _I laughed. "Oh come on, don't tell me you don't dance. This is a pretty good song."

"Oh alright, fine but only if we don't grind. Nothing naughty."

"You've got a serious pole up your butt sweetheart."

_Flashback to Total Drama Island:_

"_You know, you'd be a lot more fun without that pole up your butt," Duncan said to me. _

"_I do NOT have a pole up my butt!" I shrieked angrily_.

_~Present~_

"Yeah? And what of it? Maybe someone should shove one up _your _butt," I retorted.

He smirked. "Maybe they should."

"Maybe they will."

"Maybe you will."

"Pervert!"

**~X~X~X~**

The more we danced the more drunk Duncan got. He downed beer like it was fresh spring water someone gulps after running ten miles straight. The more drunk he was the more loud he was. To be honest I was afraid he'd beat someone up, when a couple guys would try and get me to dance with them. Duncan would just threaten to kick their ass, and he even put an arm around my shoulder and say, "She's mine buddy. Leave."

There has only been two occasions I've seen him drunk when we dated. He wouldn't get goofy or happy, no, he was an angry drunk. He used to come to my house Saturday morning with a sprained wrist or black eye because he got drunk Friday night and got in a fight. I'd tell him he was an idiot and not to drink because 1. he was a minor, and 2. he kept getting his ass kicked. He'd never listen to me though.

Why should he now? It was probably past midnight, I would guess 12:14 or 12:15. "Hey… Duncan… we need to leave now," I said to him over the loud music.

"Ah come on babe the party has just started," he said back to me.

I could just leave and let him stay here. But I knew that wasn't right. It really wasn't. "Please," I said softly, grabbing his arm and tugging him towards me. "Please leave with me?"

He groaned, but nodded. "Alright, fine, let's go." The hand arm I was holding went around my waist and we left the night club. "Yo! Taxi!" Duncan nearly yelled. Luckily one pulled up. We got in the car.

"Which hotel are you staying at Duncan?" I asked him.

"The big one with a pool."

"I'm going to need a little more than that."

"The one with the blonde girl."

"What blonde girl?"

"The blonde Paris girl."

"Oh." I turned to the taxi driver. "The Hilton Hotel." He nodded and started driving. Okay Courtney, just drop Duncan off and then go back to the motel you're staying at. I couldn't help but being a little jealous; here I was staying in a cheap motel while he stays at something as fancy as the Hilton.

"Did I ever tell you how you reminded me of someone?" he bluntly asked me.

I tried to ignore the alcohol on his breath. "You did," I answered. "Who do I remind you of?"

"Ah… I forgot 'er name." I was tempted to smack him. "Oh! Now I remember! You remind me of my ex girlfriend."

"Gwen?"

"No. Courtney." Wow. Duncan was such a freaking idiot. Yes, he was drunk. Yes, we haven't seen each other in three years. Yes, everyone thinks I'm dead. BUT FOR GOD'S SAKES DOESN'T HE RECOGNIZE ME? "You know what?" Duncan then asked.

"What?" I replied.

He leaned in close, his forehead against mine. I took in a shaky breath, trying to pull away, but he had me sandwiched between the car door and himself. "I like you a lot better," he said softly. And then he kissed me. I didn't have much time to react to the fact his warm soft lips were on mine, but my first instinct was to put my hands on his chest and curl my fingers in his shirt. But it wasn't to pull him closer… I pushed him away. Our lips came out of contact and he looked down at me with a surprised expression.

"Duncan… I… can't," I murmured. Right then the taxi parked at the Hilton parking lot. He looked at me with questioning eyes. "Come on… I'll walk you up to your room."

He nodded, and got out of his side of the car. With a sigh I paid the driver and got out and followed him into the hotel. He kissed me because he thought I was Haley. He wouldn't have kissed me if he knew I was Courtney.

When the moment finally happened and we were in front of his hotel room door, he turned around and looked at me. "Will I see you again?"

"Yeah," I smiled. "You will."

"Goodnight then, doll."

"Goodnight Duncan."

He smirked and went into his room, closing the door behind him. I smiled a little more and then turned around—gasping loudly.

"Hey there," Noah said smugly, watching me from his open hotel room door, right down the hall from Duncan's. "How are you… Courtney?"

**Author's Note:**

**DUN DUN DUN! Okay so this chapter was pretty long, so a nice review for my hard work is very appreciated. A lot happened in this chapter, didn't it ;D I miss writing DxC. I enjoyed writing this. Does Duncan truly not recognize Courtney? Will Courtney tell Duncan who she is? And how did Noah find out who Courtney really was? And will Izzy make life hard for everyone? YOU BET! Please review and thank you for reading!**

**~Luna **


	5. Unwanted Explanations

**The Long Road of Redemption: By Luna Mrow**

**Chapter Five: Unwanted Explanations**

**~X~X~X~**

"Na-_Noah?" _I asked incredulously, still in initial shock that he was standing a few yards away from me, at nearly 1:00 in the morning. "W-what are you doing here?"

"Everyone in the reunion show got their own hotel room, most of us together on the same floor," he answered. Oh shit, so just about every cast mate from Total Drama was within hearing range on the same floor of this damned hotel? Crap! "So Courtney, what brings you to— aah! Hey!"

Before Noah could say much more I literally pounced across the hall in desperation, putting my hand on his mouth and shoving him back into his hotel room, shutting the door behind me. "Be quiet!" I hissed. "Do you want everyone to hear you?"

"Hey you can't stay here," he snapped.

"Oh _please_. What makes you think I want to spend the night _here_?"

"I had my doubts, but now I'm positive you're Courtney." Damn it. I smacked my palm to my forehead. "I'm being sarcastic anyway. It's quite obvious you've still got feelings for Mr. Bad Boy across the hall."

"No I don't, shut up."

"Oh yes you do. I was the one who said Alejandro like Heather, remember? Did anyone listen? No. Did Alejandro end up spit swapping Heather on top of a Hawaii mountain? Yes."

"God you're annoying."

"You're basket of roses too, sunshine."

I scowled at him. Noah still looked the same; the only difference was he was taller. "How did you know who I was anyway?" I asked him while crossing my arms stubbornly.

"Oh come on. I was the smartest person on Total Drama. Did you honestly believe I wouldn't figure it out?"

"Ha! Hate to burst your bubble _smart one_ but I was much smarter than you. Not only did I last longer, but I strategized and I had the more popular votes."

It was Noah's turn to scowl. "Oh yeah? Well at least I had _friends _on the show!"

My mouth opened to throw a quip but it quickly shut back. Damn it, he was right. "You did," I growled. "You had much more friends."

He looked at me with a confused expression. "That's it? You're agreeing with me? You're not going to fight me?"

"Yeah smart guy, I'm not going to deny what you said, I had no friends on Total Drama."

He still looked shocked. Noah looked at me carefully, tilting his head to the side thoughtfully. "You've changed," he then said.

"Thanks," I sighed. "Now are you going to tell me how you knew I'm Courtney? I don't exactly want other campers finding out."

"Oh don't worry. Like I said, I'm the smartest one here so no one else will know." He smirked. "I just knew you were Courtney. When I saw you get in the taxi cab with Duncan I could tell who you were by your body language. Then when I saw you right outside his hotel room I was pretty sure. Now I'm absolutely positive."

"Well… nice to see you again… I guess. How have things been over the three years?"

"Eh. I'm in college. It was going great until _she _showed up on the same dorm floor in three of my classes."

"Who's she?"

"Izzy."

"Oh. You don't like Izzy?"

"The girl drives me nuts!"

"How'd she even get into college?"

"I've been asking myself that the day she showed up.

I laughed. "Sounds great, Noah. Look, it's late I really should get home. And if you wouldn't mind keeping this to yourself…"

"No worries."

"Thanks."

"If you admit I was the smartest one on Total Drama."

"_What?_"

"I want to hear you say it."

"You weren't even in the second season!"

"Say it!"

"UGH! FINE! Noah, you were the smartest person on Total Drama!"

"Excuse me, _were_?"

"DAMN IT! _Are _the smartest person on Total Drama."

"Glad you agree." He smirked. "Alright, see you later, huh?"

"Whatever," I grumbled. I opened the door, slammed it behind me, and went home after a really long night.

How can I be in so much crap after just one night?

**~X~ The next morning ~X~**

I had trouble falling asleep. By the time I got back to my motel room my body was ready to collapse but my brain was too busy thinking about Duncan. Stupid Duncan.

Was Noah right? Did I still have feelings for him? If I did, have I had these feelings all along and repressed them all these years? I knew after TDWT I absolutely hated Duncan. I couldn't stand him, I couldn't bear the thought of him, all I wanted was him gone. But why? Because he cheated on me?

As the night went on the more I thought about the core problem of my relationship with him.

Did I hate him because he cheated on me? No one deserves to be cheated on. So why was I? I could feel my throat get lumpy and hard for me to swallow. I knew why. He didn't just cheat on me. He cheated _because _of me. That was what it really came down to. I was the problem. The harder I thought about this the more tears came to my eyes.

Imagine what kind of monster I was if Duncan cheated on me. I guess that's what hurt the most. He wasn't happy with me. He was happy with Gwen. But if he was so happy with Gwen… why was he so attracted to me? He thought I was Haley, yes, but that doesn't mean—

"_You… kind of… remind me of someone." _

Did Duncan still… have feelings for me too?

"DAMN IT THIS IS STUPID!" In a fit of frustration and rage I jumped off of my motel bed and threw my pillow on the ground. "Damn you Duncan!" I yelled while punching my pillow on the carpet. "You- make- me- feel- so- STUPID! GAH!" I gave up beating on my pillow and went into the bathroom shutting the door and looking in the mirror.

My reflection was breathing erratically, onyx eyes wide, and hands in tight fists. Wait. A boy was making me feel like this? I was angrily beating up a stupid pillow for a _boy_? Damn it Courtney. I'm not supposed to feel this way about him. I was supposed to have let Duncan go. He's supposed to be history. So why does he still have his hooks into me? Why does he… still have this effect on me? Was I really shackled to my feelings for Duncan?

I took a long hot shower, releasing the stress but still thinking, thinking, thinking. When I dried off I put on a purple skirt, black flip flops, a black tank top with a scoop neck collar and left my motel room with my purse and cell phone.

The weather was warm but overcast. I forgot I left my car in the parking lot of the reunion show. "Damn it," I sighed. Might as well walk there, I don't want to break a twenty for a taxi. It literally took every ounce of my energy to _not _think about the past. Everything and anything I used to take my mind off of the past, how many licks it would logically take to get to the center of a lollipop (which I estimated 200-219), if Chris Brown inspired Rihanna's S&M song, ANYTHING stupid.

Finally I reached my car. And when I unlocked the doors and sat down in my driver's seat, I heard the passenger side open and shut. My eyes turned to my right. "Duncan!"

"Hey there," he smirked.

"You can't just get in my car you weirdo!"

"Sure I can."

"What? Were you _waiting _for me because you knew I had to get my car or something?"

"Maybe. I also wanted to take you to breakfast."

"Did you ever consider that maybe I don't _want _to eat breakfast with you?"

Duncan laughed. He turned so he was facing me and then smirked that evil smirk I've come to despise. "Oh I think you do… _Courtney_."

**Author's Note:**

**Egad! Another cliffhanger? Seriously? Don't hate me! You wouldn't believe how fun they are! You guys are writers, I'm sure you can agree. Plus it's not like I'm leaving you high and dry on suspense and not update for like a month. Because I could… I verrrrry well cooooooouuuuullllddd. Lol jk. I wouldn't do that. Intentionally. I love updating! I also love reviews! **

**Did Noah rat Courtney out to Duncan? What's going to happen between the two ex lovers after three long years? Will they still eat breakfast? If so, what will they order? WILL DUNCAN ORDER FRENCH TOAST? WILL COURTNEY ORDER PANCAKES? WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN?**

**Ha ha I'm being crazy right now. Izzy didn't fit in this chapter, so now I have to act psycho in my Author's Note. XD So thank you for reading and please review. Next update Friday or Saturday. Believe it! **

**~Luna **


	6. Crawl under a rock and die

**The Long Road of Redemption: By Luna Mrow**

**Chapter Six: Crawl under a rock and die **

**~X~X~X~**

Okay, before you read any further into this chapter, I just want to make one thing clear; I'm not proud of what I'm about to do…

"Oh I think you do… _Courtney_," Duncan said. My eyes widened and my heart started beating faster and faster. Duncan… knew… who I was? In a spur of shock and desperation, I opened my driver seat's door—and started to run away. "Hey! Come back!" Duncan yelled.

On the sidewalk of town I ran faster and faster. I was wearing flip flops, which aren't good running shoes and Duncan was probably wearing his converses. It was only a matter of time before he caught up to me. He was always faster anyway.

_Courtney! Why are you running? _My consciousness demanded.

_I don't know! _I thought back.

_Well stop it! Just talk to Duncan! You can't run away from your problems! Plus, you're going to cramp up because you didn't stretch first!_

"Courtney!" Duncan then yelled. I whipped my head around and saw he was running after me, catching up to me quick.

"No!" I cried. **(A/N I'm attempting humor here, the idea of Courtney suddenly running away entertains me XD) **

Suddenly he was running right beside me, matching me stride for stride. "We can play cat and mouse all day Princess!"

"Leave me alone!"

"What are you, a freaking five year old?"

"Maybe!" Now we were off the sidewalk and running on the grass of a nearby park. Duncan suddenly charged at me and tackled me to the ground, as he did so I squealed, "No!"

He pinned me to the ground, his hands keeping my hands down and most of his body weight sandwiching me to the grass. We were both panting heavily. "You," he panted, "are insane!" His ice blue eyes were glaring daggers into me and then I realized his face was only a few inches away from me. My cheeks heated up and I was probably beet red from blushing, but I turned my head to the side so I couldn't look at him.

When my breath was finally caught I asked in a low whisper, "How?"

"How what?" he growled, still annoyed I ran away from him.

"How did you know it was me? Did Noah tell you?"

"No. What is Noah your new best friend or something?" he demanded with a twinge of jealousy.

"No!"

"Newsflash drama queen, I freaking _dated _you. You can't run away from _that_ fact."

"How long?"

"The minute I walked out on stage at the reunion show. I easily spotted you in the audience. At first I couldn't believe it was you, so I followed you to your car to be sure. And then you tell me this bullshit story that you're 'Haley' so I decided to play along, figuring that eventually you'd tell me who you really were."

So he knew… the whole time? From the first moment he saw me? There were a few silent moments and I noticed Duncan was unconsciously rubbing small circles in my wrist with his thumb. His staggered breath was on my neck, his eyes still intently focused on me. I sighed and turned my face back to face his. We stared at each other like we were both in a trance. It's been three years; three long years for the both of us. "Why would you do that to me?" Duncan suddenly murmured.

"Do what?" I asked back just as softly.

"Why would you let me think you were dead all these years?"

"W-what?"

"I thought you were dead!" he suddenly hissed. "I thought you were gone forever, that you drowned and got lost out at sea! How could you be alive this whole time and not tell me? Do you know how freaking shocked I was when I saw you last night? I thought I saw a freaking ghost. I thought I lost my mind!"

For the first time in my life I wanted to crawl under a rock and die. I couldn't answer him; I couldn't even wrap my head around what he just said. All I could do was stare at him with wide disbelieving eyes. Did he really care about me? I thought he hated me. Didn't he hate me? Couldn't he not stand me?

My hands wiggled out from under his and I put my palms on his heaving chest, easing us up off the ground and into a sitting position. We were both close together and staring at each other intently. He was waiting for me to answer. "Did you miss me?" I whispered. A sudden chill went through me and then he was several feet back from me. His eyes were no longer on mine; they were somewhere else, avoiding me. I sighed in frustration. "So during the whole car ride and the time we were at the club you knew who I was. Were you still telling me the truth then?"

"What do you mean?"

"You… our… our conversations. Were you just telling me stuff or were you telling the truth?"

"I never lied to you, Courtney. I pretended just like you." He turned his head to the left. "There's an Ihop right across the park. Can't we just eat breakfast and talk this over?"

"Yeah," I answered. "We can."

**~X~X~X~**

"French toast with a side of bacon and eggs," Duncan said to the waitress.

She turned to me. "And for you?"

The whole time I was too preoccupied to look at the menu. "Uh… pancakes," I said off the top of my head.

"Alright, I'll be back with your order in a bit." The waitress smiled and left us alone. Duncan and I were sitting privately in a corner table booth of Ihop. Now I really wanted to crawl under a rock and die. The awkward tension in the room was thick.

"So why did you decide to come back?" he then asked. Duncan took his butter knife and ran it along the table absentmindedly. "Were you planning on telling everyone you weren't dead?"

"I guess… I came back because I had unsolved issues. I had avoided them for a few years but I knew they wouldn't go away until I addressed them." He knew what I was talking about.

"What? So now you've come back to yell at me for cheating on you with Gwen?" Duncan asked, his defenses immediately coming up. "Why don't you just get over it?"

That simple question made something snap in me. "Get _over _it?" I asked, with poison dripping from my tone. "You know, I might not have been the perfect girlfriend, Duncan! But you sure as hell weren't the perfect boyfriend! Couldn't you at least having the freaking _courtesy _to break up with me before you went after Gwen? Oh wait, that's right. You didn't have any courtesy. You're the badass punk who treats women like notches in your stupid belt."

"Yeah? Well you went freaking _psycho _trying to get your so called 'revenge' on me! You even tried to lose purposely for your team just to impress Alejandro!"

"I've been trying to get over you for three freaking years! The truth of the matter is you _hurt _me Duncan, you _cheated _on me and then _bragged _about it!"

"Can you blame me for cheating on you? You were always so controlling, manipulative, and always trying to change me for who I was!"

I stood up from my seat and glared down at him while he glared back up at me. "I'm sorry for everything I wronged you in… but that doesn't mean you didn't wrong me. You were just as screwed up as I was Duncan. The sooner you accept it the better off you'll be. It took me three years to accept what I did wrong. Now you've got to accept what you did." I started to walk out of the restaurant. This time, he didn't follow me.

**~X~X~X~**

Trying to be invisible, I knocked lightly on the door in front of me. It opened slowly, and Noah stared at me with wide eyes. "Courtney?"

"Hey," I mumbled. "There's no one else I can talk to… and I… kind of…"

"Need to vent your frustration?"

"Uh-huh."

"Let me guess, you had a huge fight with Duncan over your relationship?"

"Uh-huh."

"And Duncan knew you were Courtney the whole time?"

"Yeah. How'd you know?"

"Smartest. Person. Here."

"Whatever. Look, I just wanted to say thanks for not telling Duncan. Or anyone for that matter."

Noah's smirk disappeared. "Well… I wouldn't say that."

"You told someone? WHO?"

"COURTNEY!" a voice suddenly screamed behind me. Suddenly I fell to the floor, someone knocking me down from a hug.

"Bridgette?" I asked incredulously.

"Oh Court! I missed you so much I'm so happy you're alive! We have so much to catch up on! Courtney? Courtney? Say something!"

"You're choking her," Noah pointed out.

"Oh." Bridgette released her tight grip on me and I took a huge breath in. "Sorry," Bridgette smiled sheepishly.

I glared a quick hole into Noah. He shrugged. "Look at it this way, now you can vent to Bridgette and I can go back to reading my book in peace." He closed his hotel door.

"We have a lot to talk about," the surfer then said.

"No kidding," I sighed. Now I'm starting to wish I stuck around for the pancakes…

**Author's Note: **

**Okay, before I go any further, I know Duncan comes across as a giant poop. Basically he's got feelings he's kept bottled up and he's blaming Courtney for the guilt he's felt. He also feels hurt that she let him think she was dead for three years, but more of that will be addressed later. I feel I need to add more humor in here. Has the story been kind of funny so far? I think it has… sorta. I keep wanting to put Izzy in here but she's not fitting so far! There will be Nizzy flavors in here (for my friend Hawkfire111 XD) but not yet sadly. **

**Anyway, more drama, humor, and chaos to come. Please review and thank you for reading!**


	7. Just shut up already

**The Long Road of Redemption: By Luna Mrow**

**Chapter Seven: Just shut up already**

**~X~X~X~**

_If I'm a bad person, you don't like me_

_Well I guess I'll make my own way_

_It's a circle, a mean cycle_

_I can't excite you anymore…_

"You're serious? You're really getting married?"

"Yes! Ah, it's so exciting! Geoff just surprised me last month and proposed and he apparently already asked my father for his blessing a few months before that, it just took him awhile to build up the courage!" Bridgette squealed. She held out her left hand and there I saw a single white diamond around a silver band.

"I'm so happy for you!" I squealed.

"Thank you, thank you!"

"How did Geoff propose to you? Was it over dinner? Somewhere romantic?"

"Oh, he was so mean! He waited until I had the day of my surfing competition and right when I was preparing to swim out in the water, he says 'hey babe let me talk to you for a minute' and then he pulls out a seaweed covered—"

"Will you two stop squealing and squeaking already? Jeez you're both so annoying, just shut up already." Bridgette and I looked up and glared at Noah.

"No one is forcing you to come with us you know," I snapped. "So if you want to catch a ride you have to listen to the girl talk."

"Ugh," Noah groaned, crossing his arms and slamming his head against the car seat.

"Why are you coming anyway? Carnivals hardly seem like your place to hang out."

"Bridgette didn't tell you? Total Drama is hosting its reunion show at the carnival today. Chris told us all to be there around 2:00," Noah answered.

My head snapped to the blonde surfer beside me in the passenger's seat. "What? You never told me that!"

Bridgette smiled weakly. "You wouldn't have come if I did."

"Uh, YEAH. Bridgette, I don't want to go to another reunion show! I want to be as far away as possible from everyone."

"Oh please Courtney! We haven't spent time together at all. The reunion is only until 6:00 and then I'm free and we can go on all sorts of rides and attractions. Please? You can just lay low until it's over."

Lay low. Lay low. I gripped the steering wheel harder. What exactly was I laying low from? Oh that's right, Duncan. No! I'm not going to go around the sidelines and try to avoid Duncan! He doesn't scare me, he doesn't intimidate me. "No Bridge, I'm not laying low. In fact, I'll just ride all the rides and hang out until you're ready."

"Okay."

"It's not because I'm trying to avoid Duncan."

"I never said that."

"Good… because I'm not avoiding him. Not. One. Bit."

"Alright, good for you Court."

_Seventeen and a half seconds later… _

"Will Duncan be at the reunion?"

"Yeah."

"Okay. Whatever. I'm not asking because I care."

_Twenty-nine seconds later…_

"Do you think Duncan will stay at the carnival after the reunion show is over?"

"He might."

"Whatever. I don't care what he does."

_Six seconds later… _

"Bridge?"

"Yeah?"

"I CAN'T DO THIS!"

"Oh come on Courtney! It's a huge carnival and the chances of you running into him are slim."

"The chances of her meeting him in the parking lot and going to a club with him were slim also," Noah added.

"Shut up Noah!" Bridgette scolded. She put a hand on my shoulder. "Just stop thinking about Duncan. Think about how much fun you'll have at the carnival, think of all the rides you'll go on, the neon lights that will go on when it's dark, the cotton candy I'll buy you. Just don't think about Duncan. Don't let him ruin your good time."

I sighed. "You're right. You're right. He's just a guy. I can't let a stupid guy ruin my time." My foot eased off the gas pedal. "Great. Traffic," I grumbled.

"At least you can take the car pool," Bridgette smiled.

Suddenly Noah gasped. "Oh my god… Courtney! Drive! Drive! DRIVE!"

"I can't Noah, not if I want to dent the person's bumper in front of me."

"No Courtney, you need to drive NOW!"

"Just what is your problem?"

**BANG!**

"Is someone on the roof of your car?" Bridgette asked.

"DRIVE, DRIVE, DRIVE!" Noah screamed.

Suddenly the view in my front window was blocked. "Hey, what's the crackers?" **(A/N YES! What's the crackers has returned from Parenthood Is Never Simple! XD)**

"IZZY?" I gasped.

She jumped off the roof and onto the hood, hopping off my car and walking around to the backseat, opening the backdoor and sliding in next to Noah. "Hey flabby," she greeted, poking Noah in the arm. "How's everyone doing? Man I could go for a soda or something, all that running has me exhausted."

It took my mind a minute to register what just happened. Izzy jumped on my car, got in the backseat with Noah… what? "Have you been… following us since the hotel?" I asked incredulously.

"Yep."

"_Running_ the whole time?"

"Yeah, whoa am I tired. How are you Courtney? Haven't seen you in awhile."

My eyes glared daggers at Noah. "You told Bridgette AND Izzy who I was?"

"No! Just Bridgette!" Noah cried. "I don't know how Izzy knows! She's insane! How else has she been able to follow a car on foot? The girl is nuts! And stop poking me!"

Izzy looked different in the past three years. She cut her hair shorter in a pixie cut style and was wearing army shorts and a matching army tank top. "I was able to recognize you Courtney. Sorry about scaring you just now. I just wanted to hang out with you, Bridgette and Flabby. It's been awhile and you're my friend," she smiled happily.

Despite the fact we never hung out before, or she probably was insane and could get me killed, I couldn't help but smile. Izzy was an insane but sweet girl a little younger than us at eighteen. "Yeah," I smiled, "we are friends."

"No! You can't leave me in the backseat with her!" Noah cried.

"Just shut up already." Bridgette and I high fived.

**~X~X~X~**

_Where's your gavel? Your Jury?_

_What's my offense this time?_

_You're not a judge but if you're gonna judge me_

_Well sentence me to another life_

The carnival was overloaded with tons of people looking for a good time. A special stage was set up for the Total Drama Reunion show and Chris's interns were scrambling to set up chairs while Chris yelled at them to do their job right. I'd really hate to work for that guy. "Are you sure you don't want to just sit in the audience?" Bridgette asked me.

"I'm sure," I answered. "Have fun Bridge."

"Thanks. Oh, before I forget I've wanted to ask you… do you want to be my bridesmaid? The wedding is actually at the end of this month if you wanted to stick around."

Wow it's coming up quick! "Yes! I'd love to!" I exclaimed happily.

"Great. See you at six." She gave me a quick hug and walked off towards the stage. I took in a huge breath and turned my head towards the sky.

There was no reason for me to be upset. The world still spun, the sun still shined, life still went on. Why shouldn't I? I walked through the crowds of people, seeing little kids tug on their parent's shirt for money to buy candy, young preteens holding hands and fooling around, older adults playing booth games and so on. This was refreshing to me. In this crowd no one knew me as Courtney the celebrity from Total Drama. I was just a nineteen year old girl in a crowded carnival. That's all. And that's all I needed to be.

For an hour I walked around the carnival while watching people get on rides and play games. It was as if I was in a trance while wandering around, unsure of where I'd end up or what I'd do. Finally I sat down after walking around the whole park, which was surprisingly really huge. The time on my watch said 3:21. I've still got awhile until I meet Bridgette.

Maybe I should watch the reunion show. It'd be stupid if I didn't want to do something just because of one guy. I started to walk towards the stage. Currently on stage Chris was having the campers interviewed. From a distance I could see Duncan's spiked mow hawk. His ice blue eyes turned and looked straight at me. Amazing he could spot me in a crowd of hundreds of people. Those little things about him always intrigued me. He looked at me for a few moments then turned his head completely away from me.

_Don't wanna hear your sad songs_

_I don't wanna feel your pain_

_When you swear it's all my fault_

_Cause you know we're not the same_

_Oh we're not the same_

_The friends who stuck together_

_We wrote our names in blood_

_But I guess you can't accept that the change is good_

_It's good_

_It's good_

Suddenly I was smacked into the ground face first. "Ugh!" I groaned as I fell.

"Oh I'm sorry! I didn't see you!"

My eyes went up and I saw a guy with dark tan skin, locks of brunette hair, olive eyes, and expensive looking clothes. "Ja-Justin?" I asked in pure disbelief.

He extended a hand and helped me up. "I'm supposed to be on stage getting ready to beat box with Harold. But I thought I had a zit and I rushed to the bathroom to cover it up. No worries though, it was just some salsa from breakfast." He sighed and put his hands on his hips. "Anyway, sorry about that. Who are you, beautiful?"

Thank god he didn't recognize me. "Haley," I replied. "And it's no problem, really."

"Well Haley, how about I make it up to you? Would you like to ride a few rides with me?"

"You have a show to do, don't you?"

"Yeah, but I think I'd take up an afternoon with a pretty girl over a stupid reunion show." He flashed a smile, his pearly white teeth shining.

"I'm not sure, I'm not really…"

"How about I just buy you a cotton candy instead?"

I sighed. "Alright. Yeah. Sounds fun." We started to walk off. My head turned around and I saw Duncan eyeing me once again, this time with a glint of rage in his eyes. I couldn't help it; I threw one of his signature smirks back at his face. He said I should try and get over what happened, didn't he?

_You treat me just like another stranger_

_Well it's nice to meet you sir_

_I guess I'll go_

_I best be on my way out_

"Where are you from Haley?" Justin asked me as he took a bite into his cotton candy. "You look familiar."

I smiled and rolled my eyes on the inside. "I'm from Canada, born and raised. How do I look familiar?"

"Mhm… you look classmate familiar. I'm not sure. I'm just positive I've seen your face before."

"Well this is planet earth, there are a lot of faces on it."

He laughed. "Yeah, that is certainly true." I looked up towards the sky. Justin and I have probably spent thirty minutes together. To be honest I never expected to have an intelligent with Justin (right behind Lindsay) but over the three years he's certainly gotten… smarter to say the least. He's still in love with himself, but who knows, maybe in ten years he'll finally be over himself. "Would you like to take a walk?" he asked.

"Sure," I answered. We started to walk along the crowded pavement of the carnival. "This is really good cotton candy."

"Yeah I'll probably have to floss after eating this."

"Cotton candy doesn't get stuck in your teeth, does it?"

"Oh no, my model agent just tells me to floss every hour to keep my gums strong and my teeth in top condition."

"Ah… I see." _Creep. _"So have you modeled for any magazines or papers since Total Drama?"

…

"Justin?"

…

"Justin?"

…

I turned my head towards him. "Are you listening to me or are—" my eyes widened. He was gone! "Justin?" I called. "Where are—"

"HELP ME!" came a shrieked reply. My eyes darted to where the plea came from and I saw three masked strangers all dressed in black running off with a struggling Justin. Holy crap he's being kidnapped! My immediate reaction wasn't to yell to get help—that's what the weak did—no, the fighter in me quickly ran after the three kidnappers and Justin. I pushed my way through the crowd and was catching up to them quickly.

"Let him go!" I screamed. They were headed towards the parking lot, which in order to get to there they had to climb up a level of wooden stairs. When I followed them onto the stairs one of the kidnappers turned around and quickly shoved me before I got a chance to fight back—I lost my balance—everything happened so fast—and fell off the rail of the stairs. The drop was at least a story down. I was dead.

The wind whipped my face and my hair. I braced myself for death. Funny, my last thought wasn't anything I'd expect. My last thought as I plummeted down was my fight with Duncan. It's too bad the last conversation we had was a shouting match. It would have been nice if… if we could have just had a conversation like normal. It's too bad that the whole time I knew Duncan we were never friends. We were teammates, we were lovers, we were exes, we were haters. But we were never friends.

The crash came. The impact hit my body. But I didn't hit the hard ground. I fell into something warm. My eyes unglued themselves and I looked up into piercing blue. My mind was whirring with delirium from the fall and questions buzzed like a million bees. There was a voice that talked so sweetly, so softly, "You're okay, Princess. You're alright, I've got you."

Princess.

_Ignorance is your new best friend_

_Ignorance is your new best friend_

I felt myself being jostled in his arms as he carried me off. I could hear the crowds of people yelling and panicking from witnessing my almost death. I would be dead if Duncan hadn't caught me. He took me into a dark room, which I realized was a small tent for carnival employees. We were alone luckily. He set me down on a bench. "Are you okay?" he asked me.

"Give me a minute," I mumbled softly. I laid down flat on the wooden bench, breathing in my nose and out my mouth. My body was trembling from nerves. "Justin was kidnapped," I finally said.

"I know, but are you alright?" he asked me. Duncan's voice was close; he was kneeling down beside me.

"Uh-huh."

"You scared me Courtney," he said in a gruff whisper. "Don't ever put yourself in danger like that again."

I could feel myself tire. The impact from the fall was waning on me, despite the fact Duncan caught me. Consciousness was leaving me, I could feel it. I tried to keep my eyes open but they weren't holding out. Softly I whispered, "Duncan do you—"

"_Yes_," he whispered gruffly. "I care about you."

That was the last thing I heard him say before I went black.

**Author's Note:**

**Well OH-EM-GEE! A lot happened, didn't it? ;D I personally think Izzy is all that and a bag of chips (fav TDI character) so writing her was fun. The italic lyrics I put in this story was from the song 'Ignorance' by Paramore. A really good song, I recommend it. Did you guys like that I put lyrics in here? I won't do it often, but I wanted to do it as a sort of test. Was it too annoying? You can just skip it. I just thought Ignorance fit. **

**Anyway, I just wanted to give all my reviewers a big thank you! 11 reviews last chapter. That's a personal record for me. I really appreciate it, which is why this chapter is a good 500 words longer than the others. A lot happened. So review? Please? Thank you for reading. **

**~Luna**


	8. A hangover or something like it

**The Long Road of Redemption: By Luna Mrow**

**Chapter Eight: A hangover or something like it**

**~X~X~X~**

My eyes fluttered open but immediately shut again from the impounding headache. It was like with every blink and heartbeat I did a hammer pounded inside my head. I'm so going to need an aspirin. For a minute I kept my eyes shut and just focused on breathing. Seconds passed. Was it me or was it incredibly hot in here? Wait a minute… where's here? Where am I?

Repeating my first stupid mistake I quickly opened my eyes and groaned at the repercussions from my head. "Damn it," I hissed. I had no choice but to keep my eyes closed, the throbbing in my head kept my prisoner. Damn it was like I was having a hangover or something like it. I didn't even drink alcohol the whole _point _of a hangover!

Focus Courtney. Where are you? My hands moved up and down beneath me. Okay as far as I could tell I was on a bed with surprisingly soft sheets. Soft sheets? The bed sheets back at my motel were as scratchy as sandpaper. So I'm not at my motel. Wait… what was the last thing I did before waking up? Think!

I was at a carnival… Justin bought me cotton candy… suddenly he was kidnapped… I ran after them to try and get him back… one of the kidnappers shoved me… I fell off of the story tall stairs. Then what? Then what happened? I can't be dead if I hit the ground I'd be flat as a pancake. Someone caught me. Someone… caught… Duncan!

_"You're okay, Princess. You're alright, I've got you."_

_"You scared me Courtney; don't ever put yourself in danger like that again."_

_"__Yes__, I care about you." _

Duncan. How could I be so stupid? Duncan caught me. He saved my life. The rate at my heartbeat might as well triple. He saved my life. He saved my life. But that still didn't answer my question, where was I?

This time my eyes opened carefully and slowly. My hand went to my forehead and applied pressure as I sat up straight. Well my first initial conclusion was right I was certainly on a bed. But the fact that there were piles of black rocker t-shirts, ripped up jeans, boxers, smelly socks and red converses spread across the floor told me two things;

I'm either having a hallucination and I'm imagining myself inside Duncan's hotel room

or

I'm actually in Duncan's hotel room because he brought me here.

As much as I want to be hallucinating right now I'm pretty sure he brought me back to his hotel room. The only way I could be hallucinating is if I saw something crazy like pink elephants.

Now the only question was where's Duncan? "Hello?" I asked softly, not trying to speak too loudly because of my fragile head. My eyes shut again from the pain.

"Do you need an Excedrin?"

My eyes opened again. He was sitting on a chair in the back corner of the room, his feet up on the furniture, his arms crossed, and his gaze looking right at me. I should've known he was in this room. "Creep, were you watching me the whole time?" Damn it. That wasn't what I wanted to say but that's what came out. What I should be really doing is thanking him over and over again for saving my life. "I mean… yeah, an Excedrin would be great," I said lamely. I gave myself a mental smack.

He rolled his eyes and got up from his seat, walked into the bathroom and then I heard the rattling of pills in a bottle. I noticed he decided to not wear a shirt and tried not to look at his upper torso. Duncan may not be Mr. Personality, but _damn _he was Mr. Hot Body. It's too bad a Mr. Personality is what girls should look for, not the other one.

"Here," he said, finally coming out of the bathroom with two little green pills on one hand and a glass of water in the other. I hesitated. Duncan smirked, "What?"

"These are… legal over the counter pills right?"

He chuckled, obviously catching my drift. "_Yes, _you can look at my Walgreen's receipt if you're so worried."

"No, I believe you." I took the pills and popped them in my mouth, hurrying and taking a gulp to swallow. Duncan set the glass down on the counter and leaned his elbow on it.

Here it is; the uncomfortable tension that could be cut with a knife. We were both silent. His eyes seemed to be somewhere in space and mine went to the floor where all his clothes were scattered. Underneath his pair of ripped hobo jeans (at least only a hobo would wear them in my opinion) I saw a long sleeved dark gray shirt with white sowings, white buttons, and a small side pocket. "You kept the shirt I bought you?" I suddenly asked, breaking the long silence between us.

His eyes followed mine to the shirt. "Oh. Yeah, I did," he answered. During the interlude between TDA and TDWT I bought Duncan that when we were going to a dinner party my parents were hosting, and because he didn't have anything fancy I bought him that as a surprise. He ended up spilling shrimp and tricking the bar tender into giving him six margaritas on it but we had a blast at the party. "Surprised?" he then asked me.

My thoughts were off the past. "Surprised by what?"

"That I kept the shirt."

"Oh. Well you know, I just guessed after world tour you didn't want anything to do with me or anything that would remind you of me."

That god awful silence happened again.

"Did you save anything I gave you?" he asked.

"You mean did I save the 25 cent bracelet you got me in a vending machine at the movie theater, a pack of strident gum you bought because it was buy one get one free, and a sheet of fake skull and crossbone tattoos you left at my house on accident? No, I'm pretty sure I threw away the bracelet, ate the gum, and gave the tattoos to some neighborhood kids."

Duncan rolled his eyes but smirked in amusement. "I'm not sure what amazes me more, the fact you remember what I gave you or the fact you remember when I gave to you and what you did with it." I laughed slightly as well. "Hey wait… that's not all I gave you."

"What did I miss?"

"I seem to remember carving you a small wooden skull back on Total Drama Island? Remember?" My smile disappeared. I nodded, almost guiltily. "Did you keep it?" he asked quietly, as if he could sense my sudden mood change.

Unexpectedly I couldn't look at him. My eyes went to my feet. "No," I murmured. "I… threw it out the car window while driving."

He seemed either hurt or shocked I wasn't sure which. "_Why_?"

"Because… I was mad at you… it was right after I was thrown off the plane on TDWT, I was just so angry with you and… I regretted it the minute I threw it." After I said that I stood up from his bed and crossed the room near the front door.

"Where are you going?" he then questioned.

"I have to… I want to… I…" —_sigh_— "I can't stay here." I still couldn't look at him. It was like a sudden shame washed over me for throwing his skull. But it wasn't just that… it was getting really hard to stay focused and not be confused. Right now I was downright confused. I didn't come here to rekindle my romance for Duncan, did I? No. I came to move on. I came to settle old scores. All that comes from being with Duncan is heartbreak, right? Didn't I learn that the first time? Isn't that what I got last time? Heartbreak?

The door opened but a hand slammed it back shut. My eyes followed the hand to the arm and saw Duncan standing right next to me. He was staring at me intently with no traces of humor or amusement on his face as far as I could tell. "Don't leave," he said, but his tone was more commanding than anything. His hand was placed firmly on the door with his body weight on it, I couldn't go out without using force.

"Duncan, I—"

He cut me off. "Do you know how out of my mind I was when I thought you were dead? How could you let me think you were dead?"

His sudden interrogations threw me off. "Excuse me?" I asked with just a bit of bite. "I seem to remember you hating me last time I saw you. Didn't you hate me? You acted like you did. You treated me like I was the biggest bitch and Gwen was an absolute saint. So excuse me if you weren't at the top of my priority list!"

"Gawddamnit Courtney!" he hissed angrily. **(A/N purposely misspelled that) **"Why do you think I hate you?"

"My first initial clue was you cheated on me." Duncan wasn't giving me much breathing space between him and the door. Sandwiched again. "Why is it when you came back on the plane you suddenly lost interest in me? You suddenly hated me? You'd have to have hated me by the way you treated me."

"You hated me right back!" Duncan yelled. "It was like you became possessed with hatred and rage, damn, I thought for sure you would have killed me in my sleep."

I scowled. "I never hated… I…" the anger inside me was making it hard for me to speak. "I hated that Gwen was made to be the good guy," I seethed. "I hated how I suddenly became the villain, the crazy one, the bitch, the user. I hated that Gwen was suddenly the person you could understand, the girl you could relate to and the girl you didn't fight with every single second. I hated that you two were friends, that you two got along so well, that you could laugh and share common interests with her."

Talking suddenly became hard for me to do but I continued. "I hated how I became so obsessed with winning that I plotted and schemed behind people's backs, I hated that I thought I was so important I didn't need friends on Total Drama, I hated that I made a freaking list of all the things I could do to change you, I hated that I wasn't nice, I hated that I was bitchy, I hated that somewhere along the way… we fell apart." I took a new breath in. "So excuse me for wanting to start over, but I changed for you."

Duncan didn't say anything. He eventually let his hand go off the door and took a few steps back. "New or old you still manage to drive me insane," he hissed under his breath. His hands were in fists.

"I'll take that as a compliment, even though it wasn't meant as one," I replied dryly. I just vented all my frustrations out to him and that's all he can say to me? I drive him insane! I'm on the brink of freaking tears and that's all he has to say about it?

"You should go to the cops; they'll want to question you about Justin's kidnapping. They're still down at the carnival, I texted Bridgette and told her you'd go down as soon as you woke up."

"I left my car at the carnival," I said apathetically. Right now I swear I could punch him straight in the face.

"Then I'll drive you."

My brows furrowed in anger. "Don't you have anything to say about what I just nearly cried to you about? What are you, a freaking robot with no emotions! Doesn't what I just told you have any impact, any meaning?"

In a matter of milliseconds Duncan was right in front of me, his hands were forcefully but at the same time carefully on my shoulders and his piercing eyes were straight into mine. Before I could yell at him to get off of me, or even punch him like I had originally intended to do, he kissed me for a second time. In one quick swoop his lips were on mine roughly. _FML, _I thought as I kissed him back. He smirked against my lips, giving a breathless laugh, until I bit his bottom lip as hard as I could with my teeth.

He broke it off. "Ow!"

I stuck my tongue out at him. "That's for being an asshole!"

"Damn, you drew blood." His index finger went to his bottom lip. "I guess I deserved that."

"As much as I deserve an answer."

He sighed. "I don't want to be your life long enemy Courtney. Can't we have a treaty or something? Look, I'm sorry. Okay? I don't want to fight you. You always win anyway."

I laughed slightly when he said that. Was this my chance to finally be friends with Duncan? Something I regretted when I thought I was going to die? I always have regretted not being friends with him. Was fate giving me a second chance? "Alright, we'll have a treaty. But no more surprise smooches from these lips, got it?"

He laughed. "Whatever. It's not like you didn't enjoy it."

I rolled my eyes. "Still as cocky as ever." Standing on my toes, I leaned in and pecked a quick kiss on his cheek. He looked at me with a confused expression. "That was for saving my life," I said simply. "Now come on, you're driving me to the carnival so the cops can question us."

"Us? Newsflash Princess, you were the one who was with Justin when he was kidnapped."

"But you were one of the witnesses at the scene. The cops will want to talk to you too."

Duncan sighed inwardly. "_Great_," he growled. "A criminal's least favorite type of people."

**Author's Note:**

**Hi there. *dodges bullets* I know, I KNOW! It's been awhile since I've updated, hasn't it? Well okay, not really, maybe a week and a half, but that's no excuse is it? Sorry about that. :/ **

**This chapter was… difficult for me to write. I was halfway through it and then I thought, 'but this should happen instead!' so I had to delete HALF OF MY WORK and then re-write. But that's entirely my fault :D Writing kissing/make out scenes makes me turn red as a tomato. Why can't they be as comfortable as writing kick butt ninja scenes of awesomeness? Why? WHY? I don't know why. Cursed romance. **

**If you guys are kind of, 'wtf Duncan' then I understand. Sorry if he was OOC. But this is three years later and a lot of shit has gone down. All I can say about Duncan is I haven't figured him out. I've figured out Courtney when I write her, but Duncan is another story. I will never figure Izzy out. She's insane. ;D **

**So please review, thank you for reading, I'm sorry I haven't updated, yes ninjas are awesome, no I don't own a pony, and yes, I will try to update soon. Any of that make sense? No? Good ;D**


	9. Thanks a lot, Crazy Girl

**The Long Road of Redemption: By Luna Mrow**

**Chapter Nine: Thanks a lot, Crazy Girl**

**Quick Author's Note: **

**It should be against the law to have this much fun 8D Get ready for some Izzy madness! ;D**

**~X~X~X~**

I was thankful that the drive from the hotel to the carnival wasn't awkward between Duncan and me. Finally, there was no thickness in the air. We did argue about the radio stations, of course all he wanted to listen to was heavy scream metal and I wanted pop. We settled for 80's rock and roll which is a surprising radio station for us to agree on.

"So I'm guessing you still don't want everyone to know you're 'Courtney' and still want me to call you 'Haley' right?" Duncan asked me as he parked the car in the carnival parking lot.

"Yeah, the last thing I need are fan girls harassing me," I replied, unbuckling my seat belt and getting out of the car. "Really, when I was in the audience for the first night of the show there were some real freaks in the crowd. Don't take this the wrong way or anything, but how is it you're not getting stalked or squealed at every second?"

He shrugged. "I dunno. All I know is that I keep a few switchblades in the pockets of my jeans just in case things get too out of hand."

"Duncan! It's illegal to carry around switchblades!"

He stared at me like I was sick or something. "Do I look like I care?" he smirked.

I rolled my eyes. "Oh whatever. Of course you'd be someone to carry around a switchblade."

"Three, actually."

"Whatever."

"COURTNEY!" a voice suddenly exclaimed.

Abruptly I was off of my feet and taken to the ground! "Bridgette!" I gagged, "You're hugging—too—tight!"

She let me go. "Oh. Huh, sorry Court."

"Quiet!" I hissed. "Do you want everyone to know I'm Courtney?"

Bridgette frowned. "Oh yeah, sorry Co- oh- Haley. My bad." Bridgette stood up and Duncan helped me to my feet. "Anyway _Haley_, I came here because the cops have it all wrong! They think you were trying to kidnap Justin along with the robbers!"

"What? That's preposterous!" I shrieked.

"Who in the hell says preposterous anyway?" Duncan then asked sarcastically.

I scowled. "_Smart _people with a wide vocabulary."

"All I heard from that was nerd," he scoffed. I punched his arm. He groaned.

"Where are the cops?" I asked. "Who else have they questioned besides you?"

"Just Noah and Izzy, they were there too," Bridgette answered. "Come on, follow me, you two can set this whole mess straight."

**~X~X~X~**

"Look officer, I was spending time with Justin and he was suddenly taken by three men all dressed in black. I tried running after them to get Justin back, but one of the kidnappers shoved me off of a flight of stairs and if it hadn't been for Duncan I would have died. I am _not_ in conspiracy!" I yelled.

The middle aged African-American police officer looked at me with stern eyes. "You're sure that's what happened?"

"Positive!" I shrieked. "I have no idea what happened to Justin!"

"What did you say your name was again girl?"

"Uh…" before answering I remembered that lying to a police officer could land me in court for lying aka perjury. But technically I wasn't _completely _lying. Right? Oh god I hope so. "Haley Vega," I answered.

His beady eyes narrowed. "You're sure?"

"Yes! Why do you ask?"

"Miss Vega, I have been head of chief police for the past ten years. I've got the sixth sense."

"You… can see dead people?"

"NO! I can sniff out liars! I can detect the weak. I… am Officer Ham Hatchet!"

Duncan suddenly fell out of the nearby bench laughing his ass off. "Officer Ham!" he roared. "Holy shit that's freaking HILARIOUS!"

"Duncan Adams!" I hissed, "get your ass up off the floor and stop laughing!"

Ham gasped. "Duncan Adams? The petty criminal who has been through this police station seven times for misdemeanors?"

"That's him," I growled.

"YOU'RE VIOLATING YOUR PROBATION!" Ham yelled angrily.

"What probation?"

"This _scum_ was a part of bank robbery two months ago!"

"Hey!" Duncan then shouted defensively, "That was never proven in court."

"Holy crap Duncan, you robbed a bank and didn't freaking tell me?" I asked incredulously. Only one thing was continuously going through my mind: _I kissed a criminal, I kissed a criminal, I kissed a criminal! _

"I never actually _robbed _the bank, I just—"

"Silence!" Ham yelled, interrupting Duncan. He cracked his knuckles "Now I see what's going on… Little Missy is working with her criminal boyfriend and staged a kidnapping, now you both went to the cops so we wouldn't suspect it was you… but you're wrong! Because Sheriff Ham Hatchet used his sixth sense and caught the both of you red handed!"

My jaw dropped open. "What? NO! That is not what happened! Isn't there anyone else you can question to back up our case?" I pointed to Bridgette across the station, "Like her?"

Someone sane, reasonable and rational? Which besides from me the closest one would be Bridgette?

"Hmm," Ham replied. "I suppose I could interrogate… _them_."He pointed to Izzy and Noah sitting down near the coffee table surrounded by other police officers.

Duncan and I exchanged worried looks. "Oh god, please, not _them_," I begged. "Anyone but them!"

"Sorry, but when Ham makes up his mind Ham does what he decides to do."

"Could you at least interrogate Noah? Just not Izzy, anyone but Izzy," Duncan pleaded.

"NO. Bring in our next two witnesses!"

This was going to get messy… I didn't need a sixth sense to know that…

**~X~X~X~**

"I demand diplomatic retribution!" Izzy shrieked.

"That makes absolutely no sense!" Noah yelled. "All the officer wants to know is what you did earlier tonight when Justin got kidnapped."

"Who's Justin?"

"The guy who starred on Total Drama with us!"

"His name wasn't Eric?"

Noah slapped his forehead. "NO!"

"Then who's Billy?"

"There is no Billy!"

"So does that mean there's no Paul?"

"Kill me now," I groaned, leaning further back into my seat. Duncan awkwardly put a hand on my shoulder. Was he actually trying to comfort me? He had in the past but he was _bad _at it.

"It'll be _okay_," Duncan whispered.

"No it won't you're just saying that."

"How do you know?"

"You're tone of voice. You're using the 'just tell her what she wants to hear' voice."

"Whatever," he scoffed.

"This is serious Duncan. Why would they think we kidnapped Justin?"

"I don't know Princess; the justice system has always been screwed."

"You're just saying that because you're a criminal!"

"That's it!" Ham then yelled, after another one of Izzy's outbursts. "You four are going to spend the night behind bars so I can keep an eye on you!"

"WHAT?" we all shrieked.

"Thanks a lot Crazy Girl!" Noah hissed.

"Excuse me for wanting to know who Paul was!"

"There is no Paul!"

"But what about Billy?"

"GET THEM OUT OF MY SIGHT!" Ham ordered. Several officers grabbed us by the arms and started to drag us towards the overnight county jail cell. Duncan tried to fight them but I gave him a sharp and pleading look so he stopped.

"Don't worry guys I'll get you out!" Bridgette exclaimed when she saw us getting dragged away.

"Throw her in too!" Ham yelled.

"What? But I can't spend a night away from my smchoopsie poo! No!" Bridgette whined as she got dragged away.

"Smchoopsie poo, seriously? I'm so going to make fun of Geoff's manliness when I get out of here," Duncan said.

"Shut up!" Bridgette hissed.

The jail bars closed. Duncan, Noah, Bridgette, Izzy and me were left trapped inside. I sighed in frustration. "This is just great!" I huffed.

"Yeah, it's been my biggest accomplishment to get thrown into the big house by a guy named Ham," Noah remarked sarcastically. He crossed his arms. "Did you have to go AWOL on us Izzy?"

"Yes," she replied, flipping back her short orange hair, "because in the midst of all the panic and yelling I was able to steal—this!" She held up a thick folder that looked like it was at least two pounds with so much paper crammed inside.

"What's that, Duncan's criminal record?"

"Shut up Noah," said ex criminal retorted.

"No," Izzy said simply, "This is the crime report of Justin's kidnapping. Now we can read what information they have on the kidnappers we didn't know before."

"Wow. No offence Izzy, but I thought you weren't capable of… this… whatever this is," I said. "Thanks." I turned my head to Duncan, "But you and I need to talk."

"Oh I'm sure we do, but we'll have to do it in the morning," he replied.

"Why? We'll be in jail all night."

Duncan smirked. "I wouldn't bet on that."

"I want my Geoff-Bear!" Bridgette wailed. She sat with her knees against her chest in a fetal position against the far corner of the wall.

**~X~X~X~**

Three hours had passed and during which me, Duncan, Noah and Izzy read the police report while Bridgette remained in the corner of the jail cell crying for her 'Geoff-Bear'. Okay, I know she's in love and all that, but damn that's just unhealthy.

According to the police report the 'suspected kidnappers' (mind you the police don't have actual evidence this is just suspicion) are a group of escaped convicts. There are four of them and they usually kidnap people for ransom in these areas of Canada. It makes sense they'd kidnap Justin, because they figured Total Drama would pay for it.

Another hour passed and finally we could hear talking down the hall coming closer. Ham stood there, but the guy next to him made my jaw drop. "Chef?" I asked incredulously. Why didn't I see it earlier… Ham and Chef were brothers! Not just brothers… TWINS! I should have realized this when he said his last name was Hatchet. But in my defense I was preoccupied for being framed for a kidnapping I didn't do.

Chef saw us and immediately started laughing. "You fools got yourselves thrown in jail? By my brother? OH THIS IS CLASSIC!" he laughed.

"Shut up! I will destroy you!" Izzy hissed. **(A/N Izzy has it out for Chef)**

"You four got lucky, if it weren't for Chef I'd keep you in here," Ham said.

"So does this mean we're free to go?" Bridgette asked.

"Yes, and I guess you're not guilty of the kidnapping either." Ham coughed, "My sixth sense may have been off tonight."

"Wait a second, four? What about Cou-uh-Haley? What about Haley?" Duncan asked.

"Look, Chris told me to free the ones from the show, I don't know any Haley," Chef answered. He looked at me. "You do look familiar. Were you an intern at one point?"

"No," I sighed. "Go on guys, get out of here it's late."

"I'm not leaving without Haley," Duncan said sternly.

"Stop being stupid Duncan, just go!" I hissed.

"No!" he growled. "Plus, didn't you say you wanted to talk to me? How can we talk if I'm out there and you're in here?"

I had nothing to say. "Alright I guess she can leave too. But I better not see your punk faces in here again," Ham warned.

"You won't," Noah confirmed. He grabbed Izzy by the arm. "Say one thing to get the Hatchets pissed off, and I will not be happy."

She rolled her eyes. "Fine, whatever flabby."

Duncan grabbed my arm and pulled me out of the cell. "Come on," he said. "Let's get out of here."

My first technical night in jail. I have a lot to tell Sam when I get back home.

**Author's Note:**

**Dayum, that was a crazy ass chapter. Usually when I do funny there's just dialogue, not much action. I hope you guys liked it. At least liked it enough to review. Pretty please? :D **

**I'm getting ready to do what I'm referring to as the Gwen segment. I'm still brainstorming that one. And of course there will be more drama, action, humor and as much as it makes me red to say it, romance. No ninjas. It's sad really, ninjas are awesome. **

**Thanks for all the past reviews! Review some more? And thank you for reading this chapter! :D **

**~Luna**


	10. This can't happen twice

**The Long Road of Redemption: By Luna Mrow**

**Chapter Ten: This Can't Happen Twice**

**~X~X~X~**

Last night felt like a swig of soda with a bad aftertaste, and no matter how many times you drink something else or eat food it still remains in your taste buds. My bad aftertaste was jail. Finally after I had gotten out of that godforsaken place Bridgette drove me to my motel room. After such a long time I was finally by myself in my own solitude and was hugging a large pillow close to me.

Who could have kidnapped Justin? That bothered me to no end. A crazy fan girl maybe? My brows furrowed. Didn't hundreds of Total Drama fans get together from around the world to see this week long reunion show? That was it! I'll bet the kidnapper is someone in the audience!

Quickly I grabbed my phone and called Noah. "Hello?" he answered his voice sounding tired.

It suddenly occurred to me it was 6:23 in the morning. Whoops. "Yeah Noah, what time is your reunion show today?"

"No, I don't want to smoke any unicorns…"

"What? Noah, listen to me, what time does—"

"Pants are for cheetahs' silly woman."

He hung up. "Ugh!" I groaned. Noah must've still been asleep when he answered his phone. "You know you spend too much time with Izzy." Taking in a deep breath I dialed Duncan's cell phone number. It's probably not his number anymore this was his number I had three years ago. All I can remember is keeping his number in my phone just in case I wanted to call him and cuss him out. Of course that'd be something the old Courtney would do.

Ringing…

Ringing…

Ringing…

"Hello?"

I suddenly froze. I couldn't say anything back.

"Hello?" the voice repeated. "If this is a prank call, you're really bad at it."

The line went dead.

My hand slowly descended from my ear to my side where I dropped the phone on the carpet. The one who answered Duncan's phone? It was Gwen.

Just what in the hell is going on?

**~X~X~X~**

It was 6:00 in the evening and I hadn't called or talked to any of my old cast members. Bridgette called me once and left a message saying she'd be at the Entertainment Center where they held the first reunion show. Noah called but didn't leave a message. Izzy also called and left a message ordering a pizza… which is weird because I never gave her my number. Duncan never called.

_Forget about him_, I told myself as I sat down in the audience of the reunion show. I'm on a mission I can't be thinking about Duncan. What's my mission? Find the crazy fan girl (or who knows, maybe fan boy) who kidnapped Justin. The problem with my mission? This was a _Total Drama _reunion show with _Total Drama _fans! So I'll have to be alert, aware and pay special attention to those who look suspicious.

"Hey I know you!" a voice suddenly exclaimed. I turned my head and saw the little girl Raquel who sat next to me the first night of the reunion. "You're the lady who told me never to say the word bastard."

"Raquel you just said it!" her older sister Grace snapped.

"Oops. Sorry lady."

"It's alright," I smiled. Raquel was now wearing a shirt that said DxG with a picture of Duncan and Gwen holding hands inside of a heart. "I thought you were a Duncan Courtney fan."

Raquel shrugged. "I was, but then Grace converted me to DxG when we watched the third season of TDWT. I realized Courtney was just a big bee-yotch and Gwen is the one truly meant for Duncan."

"Long live DxG!" Grace shouted in the audience, a few people whooping.

The combination of pretty much everyone in the audience hating me (even though it wasn't directly me) and the fact Gwen answered Duncan's phone made me lash out in anger. "Is Gwen really someone you want to _admire?" _I shrieked to the two little girls. "In case you didn't notice, she helped Duncan _cheat _on someone, she was the knife he used to stab me—uh—Courtney in the back! I don't care how much of a 'bee-yotch' Courtney was, Duncan cheated on her and Gwen went along with it! That makes Gwen as much of a bee-yotch too!"

Angrily I stormed out of the reunion show. Eyes followed me because to them I was just some random lady in the audience throwing a fan fit. They had no idea I was actually Courtney, the girl who actually got cheated on! They had no clue whatsoever!

Seventeen minutes passed and I was alone inside the woman's bathroom (which was huge) sitting on one of the plush couches. My knees were huddled against my chest and my head was buried on my knees. Did all the Total Drama fans really hate me? Did they really see Gwen as a saint?

It didn't take long before I regained my maturity. I shouldn't have lashed out at the two little girls. God, what kind of person does that? Who just starts yelling at kids?

_I'm walking on sunshine_

_Whoa-oh! I'm walking on sunshine_

_Whoa-oh! And it's gonna feel good! _

_Hey! Oh right now! _

A text message? I took out my phone. It was from Sam. **Hey kiddo, I just spent an hour figuring out how to text. I don't know how you kids do it so fast. Anyway just wanted to let you know I miss you. –Sam. **

I smiled. Of course it'd take him an hour to figure out how to text, I remember it taking him two days to figure out how to program speed dial when people called him. Thinking about Sam made me feel better. He's always patient with me, he always helps me and he always encourages me. Sam must have known I was upset he sent the text message at the perfect time. I remembered our last conversation before I left:

"_Courtney, ever since the day I rescued you on the boat in the seas of Hawaii I've wanted one thing: you to be happy." Sam gave me a soft smile. Tears started to form at the edge of my eyes. "You've changed Courtney. You're stronger, kinder, so much more than what you used to be. But you've still got problems with your old cast members. At least try and get them solved."_

He only wished me happiness. Was I happy huddled on a couch inside the woman's bathroom? Surprisingly no. With an encouraged smile I opened the door and walked out of the bathroom and back into the reunion show. Instead of going back to my original seat I stood up near the doors. All the cast members I could see were up on stage with Chris and Chef.

Wait, I've got to remember my mission! Okay Courtney, now if I were a crazy fan girl/guy where would I sit? Towards the front of course. But what if I was a psycho fan girl/guy who wanted to kidnap the stars? Then I'd sit in the back. But what if I was a psycho fan girl/guy who didn't want to be too suspicious by sitting in the very back or by sitting in the very front? Then I'd sit in the middle.

…

Damn it I'm back to square one! I'm a horrible spy. **(A/N LOL!) **Maybe they'll be outside the building? I should go investigate and get some fresh air while I'm at it. I walked outside into the nighttime breeze and took in a huge breath. There's no way I'm finding the kidnappers by myself.

"Hi there," said a voice.

I turned around. To my surprise Trent was standing hunched over a few yards away from me with a smile on his face. He looked the same as he did three years ago, his hair shorter and less shagged. "Oh… hi," I smiled back. Trent's smiles were always contagious.

"Sorry to bother you, but I dropped my guitar pick on the ground and I really need to find it… would you mind helping me?"

"Of course not," I answered while still smiling. "What color is it?"

"Light green. In fact, it's the color of your tank top."

"Oh, alright." I saw his pick underneath some bushes. "Here you go," I said handing it to him.

"Thank you so much, you're a life saver!" he exclaimed happily. "You probably already know who I am, I'm Trent."

"I do know you. I'm Haley."

"Well thank you so much Haley. I really appreciate it." He picked up his guitar and slung it over his shoulders. "They're expecting me to play a few of my songs tonight."

"Oh, well then don't let me keep you, go on ahead."

Trent stared at me for a moment. "Have we met before?"

"No, I'm pretty sure if I met a celebrity I'd remember." Somehow lying to Trent made me feel guilty.

He laughed. "Right, celebrity. You know, before Total Drama I was just a simple guy who liked to play my guitar."

"Uh-huh?"

"Sometimes I wish I could go back to that." He sighed.

I can respect Trent for being a humbled musician. Really out of everyone he got cheated the most. How could Gwen just toss him like that? "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"Is it true, are you still together with Gwen?"

"Yeah," he smiled. "We have the past year."

"What made you take her back?"

"Huh?"

"I mean, after she split with Duncan what made you take her back?"

It was too bad Trent never answered me. Because right at that moment a bullet flew over our heads, making us both crouch down in fear! Suddenly the three men dressed all in black were behind us, one grabbing me with his strong arms the other two grabbing Trent!

"Let us go!" I screamed, trying to kick and squirm out of the kidnappers grasp!

"You again!" he grunted, "You're a pain in my ass!"

Suddenly I was thrown to the ground as the man who was holding me grabbed Trent and the three started pulling him away. I can't go after them I already tried that with Justin! But I can't just sit here and watch them drag away, can I?

**NO! **I can't!

I took the first thing I saw as a weapon—which was a fallen tree limb—and swung away, knocking one of the kidnappers down on his knees. Immediately I turned and swung at the two holding Trent (accidentally hitting Trent as well) but my plan worked and they let him go! "Come on!" I screamed, grabbing his hand for us to run.

_Chik! _

"Let's not forget we have guns," a kidnapper smiled. My heart froze. Trent and I slowly turned around. "Let him go, and no one dies."

"Haley let go of my arm," Trent ordered.

"But!"

"No! I'll be okay, just let me go." I let go of his arm and Trent walked a few steps next to the three kidnappers. He looked at me. "Tell Gwen I love her and I'll be okay."

The one with the gun smirked. "If you're at our next kidnapping, I'll kill you," he said to me. And then I watched helplessly as the three drove away with Trent.

No… this can't happen twice. Not twice. Trent can't be kidnapped! I fell to my knees. "I swear," I hushed under my breath, my lips trembling, "I swear I'll come after you!"

"Courtney!"

My head turned around. Izzy was standing there with his eyes wide. She ran over to me and got on her knees next to me. "I saw what happened I couldn't get over here fast enough!" she exclaimed.

"They took him," I sobbed. "And they're going to kidnap someone again. They're going to strike again."

"It's alright," Izzy said softly. "You were so brave."

"It's not enough. The cops won't listen to me Ham already thinks I committed the first kidnapping and if he found out I was at the second he'll blame me! There's nothing we can do!"

"**You're wrong**." Izzy's voice was stern and full of force. "We're going to stop them Courtney. I swear to you, we're going to stop them!"

**Author's Note:**

**AAAAHHHH! DRAMA! Seriously, I think Izzy is kick ass. She's crazy, yeah, but she can also kick some ass. I feel bad for Trent. Nice guys always seemingly finish last *tear* XD **

**Please don't get mad at me for the cliffhanger. This chapter is a good 600 words longer than the rest. So… yeah… remember that XD Please review (so appreciated!) and thank you for reading. **

**~Luna**


	11. Bad Blood

**The Long Road of Redemption: By Luna Mrow**

**Chapter Eleven: Bad Blood**

**{Quick A/N: this takes place not a second after the previous chapter}**

**~X~X~X~**

"Come on Courtney, stand up, you don't want to be seen on the floor." Izzy grabbed my arm and with amazing strength hoisted me to my feet. My cheeks were still tear stained with mascara. "Listen to me Courtney; Ham is going to blame you for the kidnapping. You need to tell me everything that happened and I'll say I was the one who was with Trent. I'll say I did everything you did."

"What? Izzy I can't lie!" I shrieked. "We'll get arrested for perjury!"

She rolled her eyes. "I swear, after dating a criminal you should've learned the number one rule."

"Not to date a criminal?"

"No! You don't get arrested if you don't get caught." Izzy winked. "Believe it or not, I've been arrested for inappropriate conduct in public a few times before."

"Oh trust me, I believe it." Crazy Girl was right… which is really weird to say. It was better we lied than telling the truth and having to fight the cops.

"Everyone inside probably heard the gun shots. They'll be out here. You need to get away from here."

"But I haven't even told you—"

"I'll compromise! Go Courtney!" Izzy exclaimed. She shoved me off and I wobbled a few steps and ran to the back of the building. I could hear the doors opening and a crowd coming around Izzy, their voices in panic and questioning. Never in my life or in my time of Total Drama did I expect someone like Izzy to have my back? She truly was a good person. Freaking insane, but a good person.

Now I was in my parking lot and safely inside my car. My head was on the steering wheel and the quiet atmosphere was being filled with my sobs. First Justin, now Trent?

_"If you're at our next kidnapping, I'll kill you."_

That stupid jackass. They threatened my life… but not just that… they were going to strike again. This was going to happen again! I don't care if all of the cast members never liked me, if the entire fan base thinks I'm a bitch, if the whole world hated me! Can I really just do nothing and wait for another one to get kidnapped? More importantly… can I let Izzy take the heat for something I was a part of?

_If the cops blame you it's over!_

_What if Izzy's story doesn't add up? What if there's a critical piece of information she misses?_

_You can't go back to jail!_

_You can't let other people deal with your problems! You can't run away!_

**Smash!**

In a fit of frustration I smashed the keychain on my car keys! The point is I can't sit in my car and cry! I'm not weak! And if I am, if I truly am weak, I'm not going to let it show. No one will know I'm weak. Not anymore. My car door slammed and I stomped to the crowd of people. The cops had already arrived and Officer Ham was questioning Izzy. Noah was standing next to her for either support or she stole his wallet I wasn't sure. Izzy was right about one thing; it would be foolish if he saw me. Ham already seemingly hated me and Duncan (to be fair I can understand why any cop would hate Duncan).

I slipped into the crowd of spectators watching the scene. Something caught the corner of my eye. My head turned. Gwen was talking to the cops; of course, her boyfriend was kidnapped just now. But if Trent was her boyfriend… why was she wearing a black jean jacket over her shoulders that had metal buttons and a skull design on the back?

_Duncan's jacket. _

Was jealousy flooding into me? Was I really jealous? Maybe, but I think pissed off suits me better. I wanted to rip Gwen's _head_ off. We had bad blood whether she liked it or not. It disgusted me how she talked to the cops about Trent and yet hugged Duncan's jacket even closer to her. It wasn't even that cold outside! Fifty-five degrees _at least_.

…

Okay, yeah, it was cold outside even though it was summer. But that was no excuse! **(A/N lol)**

"Hey you! Get over here!"

Ham noticed me. DAMN IT! I trudged over to the crime scene and stood next to Izzy and Noah. I had no idea what she said to the cops earlier. "Yes?" I asked, trying to sound innocent. My tone of voice couldn't fool a rock.

"Crazy Girl here says you were at the crime scene at the very last minute," Ham said. "What happened when you arrived?"

Now I understand what Izzy did. She switched our roles. Instead of me being the one who was there with Trent and Izzy being the one who was there at the last minute, she was the one who witnessed the kidnapping. "I… saw Izzy on the ground crying right as the van drove away with Trent."

"Is that all that happened?"

"Yes."

"Well let me turn this report in to my deputy." Ham turned around and walked to the cop car.

"We have to have more than that!" Gwen cried. "He could be hurt!"

"Calm down Gwen, Trent will be fine," Noah tried to sympathize.

"No he won't!" Gwen yelled, "Not until we get some answers! I want to find my boyfriend!"

"Oh, is Trent your boyfriend? It looks like you have another guy's jacket on you," I said with just a hint of challenge. "By the color and the design it looks like it'd belong to some punk like Duncan or something."

Gwen eyed me viciously. "Right now I could care less about a stupid jacket." Her voice had as much poison as mine. "And who are _you_ anyway? Some fan girl of Heather's?"

That was Gwen's version of a low blow. We both knew how much she hated Heather. Noah could sense the building tension and slowly backed away a few steps. "I liked Heather on the show a lot better than I liked _you_," I sneered.

"Good. I don't need someone like _you_ being a fan of mine. You remind me too much of the old cast mate Courtney."

That did it! That was the last freaking straw! The stupid goth turned around to talk to the cops again. I tapped her on the shoulder. She turned around with her mouth open ready to insult me. She never did.

_Smack!_ I decked her straight in the face! She landed on the floor and I glared down at her! "I bet I can hit as hard as Courtney!" I yelled.

"You bitch!" Gwen shrieked. She stood up and tried to shove me, but I already anticipated that and dodged her movement, kneeing her in the stomach! She doubled over on her knees. Another cop ran over to break us up. I found myself being dragged by Ham.

"You don't deserve Trent!" I yelled as he dragged me away. "You don't deserve anybody ever since you helped Duncan cheat on me—uh—Courtney! Courtney! You're the one who deserves to be hated!"

"Enough!" Ham growled. He threw me in the police car. He slammed the door shut and then walked around to the driver's seat and sat in the front. A few minutes of silence passed, except for Ham heaving and breathing like an ogre. "Here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to let you off and not arrest you for inappropriate conduct. But if I so much as see you with a threatening look on your face in public then you're done for."

He's not arresting me? Seriously? There has to be a catch. He's Chef's brother for crying out loud!

"Why?" I asked.

"Because Haley… I'm not a Gwen fan either."

Am I on drugs without knowing it? Did Ham actually SAY that?

"What?" I asked again.

"Yeah, that girl was alright in the first season, but it was totally obvious she was trying to steal Duncan in Total Drama Action, and she was a total jerk in World Tour."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. "Officer Ham… are you by any chance a Courtney fan?"

"Are you kidding? I'm her biggest fan! It breaks my heart to know out of the whole cast she was the one who got lost at sea!" Ham cried. He regained his composure. "If you tell anyone I'm a Courtney fan I will arrest you for no reason."

"Don't worry Officer, I'm sure if Courtney knew she'd be flattered."

"Whatever. Now go on home, Haley. Get out of my sight."

"Yes sir." I opened the car door and started walking to my car. Apparently I was wrong, the whole fan base doesn't think I'm a bitch. I have Sherriff Ham Hatchet on my side. Which is oddly… comforting? No. But it the reason I was smiling.

**~X~X~X~**

The time was 8:30 when I finally got back to my motel. I stood outside the door, ran the key through the lock and went into my room. Then I paused. There was a lamp light on. I never leave lights on when I leave any place I'm at. Someone was in here.

Right, yeah, because just when I thought my day couldn't get any shittier fate proved me wrong.

The closest thing for me to grab was an umbrella near the door. I clutched it tightly and slipped off my flip flops, carefully tip toeing barefoot farther into my room. I crept farther along and saw the intruder. My arms lifted to the top of my head, preparing to strike. The intruder turned around and—

_Smack!_

"Ow! Courtney!"

"Duncan?"

"Jeezus Christ you scared the hell outta—"

_Smack! _

The last whack to the jerk's head I couldn't resist. "Why are you in my motel?" I demanded. "How'd you get in here? How long have you been here? Why are you—_mmph!_"

Duncan's large hand engulfed my mouth. "Will you shut up and calm down?" he hissed.

_Smack!_

"Damn you, Courtney!" he yelled, snatching the umbrella out of my hands and throwing it across the room. There goes my only weapon against him.

My eyes narrowed into slits. "What do you want?"

"Well I certainly don't want to get hit in the head with an umbrella!"

"Well I don't want to come back to my only fortress of solitude and see _you_!"

"Well that's too bad, isn't it?"

Duncan shoved me backwards and I fell onto the couch. He glared down at me. "I heard what happened."

"How?" I spat. "Gwen has your _phone_!"

His eyes widened. "Oh ho, so what, now you're jealous?"

"No! I just want to know why that ex boyfriend stealing bitch has your cell phone!"

He smirked smugly. "I gave that to her when we were still dating. Now I have a new phone Princess." He took it out of his jean pocket to show me. "Do you want to borrow it to call a therapist?"

"Oh shut up!"

"Why? Because you know you're way out of line and you don't want to take responsibility for once in your life?" he challenged.

"Oh, you're one to talk! You've never taken responsibility for _anything!_"

"But this isn't about me, is it?"

Damn it, damn it, damn it. I tried to get up from the couch but he shoved me back down. "Let me go!" I exclaimed. I tried to get up again but he shoved me twice and this time straddled me, putting his knees on the couch between me and his hands leaned over on my shoulders, pinning me down. His teal eyes were holding my onyx ones prisoner.

"You're not leaving until you admit what you did wrong," Duncan growled in a low voice.

I wanted to kill him. I wanted to smash his face in. I wanted to rip every piercing on his face right out. Anything but to admit that I was… wrong.

But… I am wrong. We both knew it. Was I a big enough person to own up to it? I never did that in our relationship when we were together, did I? I never admitted I was wrong… never to Duncan.

Eventually my breathing slowed. Carefully, I moved my head up and rested it on his shoulder. He flinched, but made no movement. "I… I was wrong," I murmured softly. "I let myself jump to conclusions, got unnecessarily angry, and whacked you with an umbrella. I'm… sorry."

His shoulders moved from chuckling. Duncan wrapped his arms around my lower back and flipped us, so I was sitting on top of him while he sat on the couch. "Was that so hard?" he teased.

"Yes, that was very hard," I smiled.

"Now you can ask me questions since you've apologized."

"Why was Gwen wearing your jacket from earlier?"

"I left it at the show when I left, she must have worn it without me knowing."

"Why would she randomly wear your jacket? Does she have feelings for you?"

"Maybe… but it could also be that it was fifty degrees outside and she forgot her own."

"Okay, first of all, it was fifty-_five_ degrees and forgetting her own jacket is no excuse."

Duncan chuckled against me. "Whatever Princess. Now I can ask _you _questions."

"That was never part of the deal."

"It never had to be. Why didn't you come get for me when the kidnappers showed up with you and Trent?"

"How did you know about that?"

"Ah-ah this is Duncan-interrogate-Courtney time, not Courtney-interrogate-Duncan time. Why didn't you come get me?"

"It all happened so fast I didn't have time to think!"

"Don't get defensive Princess."

There was a knock at the door. I tried to get up to answer it but Duncan held his grip with his arms around my waist. "Let me go," I said lightly.

"Hurry up," he ordered, reluctantly letting me go.

I stood up and opened the door. My eyes widened and gasp went through the air!

"Hi, I'm Chris McLean, host of Total Drama."

Before he said anymore I exchanged a quick worried look with Duncan. Whatever reason Chris and Chef were at my door, it couldn't be good.

**Author's Note:**

**Drama! XD This was a pretty good length chapter. I'm pretty happy with it. For those of you who are kind of like 'wtf' with the Gwen- Courtney thing, I understand. Courtney may not be the bitch she was in the show, but she's not a saint either. We all have baggage. And seeing Gwen in Duncan's jacket was what made her snap. **

**But think about it, the last she saw Gwen was on top of the Hawaii Mountain in World Tour, and then Gwen makes the low blow saying she looks like Courtney, who everyone is presuming dead. Don't get me wrong, I like Gwen, but for this story she's a total jerk. But hey, Courtney's not perfect either. She had to learn that the hard way. **

**Reviews are loved! Thanks for reading and just as a random fact about me, the show Psych is pretty much amazing. Just saying. **

**~Luna **


	12. Unwelcome Houseguests

**The Long Road of Redemption: By Luna Mrow**

**Chapter Twelve: Unwelcome Houseguests **

**~X~X~X~**

"C-Chris?" I stammered out of sheer shock. Chris McLean and Chef were right outside my motel door!

"Yes, I can see you're stunned someone as ravishing as I is outside your door. I told you we should have waited to blow dry my hair Chef, clearly it looks too fantastic for this girl to comprehend."

Chef just grunted. "Look girl, are you going to say anything or just stand there with your mouth hanging open?" he demanded.

"What are you doing here?" I finally breathed. Chris and Chef exchanged devious glances before stepping in my motel. "Hey you were never invited in!" I shrieked. Crap, where was Duncan? If Chris and Chef saw him here… well this isn't good. My head whipped to the couch where Duncan had been sitting. He was gone. Where… where is he? While I was secretly searching for the delinquent Chris and Chef had sat down at the table with chairs.

"Please, Haley, sit," Chris said.

"How do you know my name?" I questioned.

"Oh, we know plenty about you. Sit."

I hated Chris giving me orders; it reminded me of the hell back on Total Drama. But I relented and sat down across from them, giving them my best glare. "What exactly do you know?"

"We know you've been spending a lot of time with the Total Drama cast, like Bridgette, Izzy, Noah and Duncan. Especially Duncan," Chef snickered.

"How?"

"We keep track on our cast mates. They don't know this, but we have hundreds of tiny hidden cameras in their motel rooms, cars, and all over the city. We see almost everything they do."

"_Son of a bitch!" _came a hissed voice. My head turned to the closet. That's where Duncan was hiding.

"What was that?" Chris asked.

I lamely coughed. "Just a tickle in my throat."

Chef gave me a quick suspicious glare. "Anyway," Chris continued. "We have a lot of footage of the four of our cast mates with you. And we also caught on camera what happened between you and Gwen."

_Great_, I thought, _The last thing I need is to be put on the internet having a cat fight with Gwen. _"So what do you two want?" I asked.

"We want you… to join the show."

My eyes widened. "No. No. NO. Absolutely not!" I shrieked.

"It's not that bad! You can replace Courtney as Haley, the sassy cast member who's out for Goth blood. We've already made a poster." Chris held up a small poster of me fighting Gwen, a picture someone must have taken during our fight.

This was so messed up. They wanted me to replace myself… who was me to begin with. And they wanted me to be the same way as the old Courtney was, bitchy and out looking for a fight. "That's not me," I said sternly. "I don't pick fights, I don't act like a bitch for people's entertainment, and I don't want to work for _you_."

Chris and Chef started laughing. "You're right," Chris giggled, turning to Chef. "She does look familiar. Have you ever been one of our interns?"

It suddenly occurred to me that they were close to figuring me out. If it wasn't the familiarity of my looks it was my attitude. Chef and Chris could not know I was Courtney. Period. Bottom line. Hell would break loose if they did. I had to throw them off somehow, do something that they wouldn't expect! Something Courtney would never do!

"How about I be your intern?" I asked suddenly. I immediately regretted it.

Chef eyed me seriously. "You? An intern?"

"Yeah. Why? Got a problem with it?"

Chris chuckled. "Why do you want to be my intern?"

My plan was working, I had thrown them off. "Do I need a reason to work for something as big as the Total Drama franchise?" I asked. It almost made me throw up to say those words but I was selling it.

"You know what Chef… I think this girl has what it takes. She's got spunk… who else do we know is like her? She's so familiar," Chris trailed off. He shook his head. "You're hired."

"What? Seriously? You haven't even interviewed me!"

"You cause drama with the cast mates which cause ratings. You're hired." Chris turned to Chef. "Come on now, let's get some bacon burgers."

"Straight up," Chef agreed. They stood up and headed for the door.

"Show up at the Entertainment Center tomorrow at noon." They left and slammed the door as they did.

I stood there in utter shock. What was I thinking? In panic I decided to work for them but I didn't think Chris would hire me a few seconds after my proposal! SHIT! I heard another door open and shut. Duncan stood next to me with his eyes wide. "What… the hell?" he breathed.

"I panicked," I muttered.

"You're their slave now."

"It was the only thing I could do."

"You're theirs. You've signed over your soul."

"Duncan?"

"What?"

"I'm scared."

"I'm scared for you too."

"That doesn't help me one bit."

"No… it really doesn't." Duncan put an arm around my waist. "You'll be okay," he said.

"No I won't. You're just saying that. I'm screwed."

He sighed. "You are screwed." And for the first time in my life I heard Duncan say something I never in my life thought he'd say. "May God be with you." **(A/N LOL!) **

**~X~X~X~ The Next Day ~X~X~X~**

"What do you mean Chris installed hundreds of hidden cameras in our hotel rooms, cars, and around town?" Bridgette shrieked.

I held the phone away from my ear because of her shrieking. "Just warning you," I said.

"This is insane! This is against our privacy! I knew it was a bad idea if we accepted Hilton Hotel rooms from Total Drama, I knew there had to be a catch!"

"That's also how Chris knew I was hanging out with you, Noah, Izzy and Duncan. There was probably footage of me in Duncan's hotel room and I've been in Noah's. Maybe even footage when I went out to the club with Duncan my first night here."

"Courtney I can't believe this! Is nowhere safe? You have to get that footage!" Bridgette exclaimed.

"How am I supposed to—wait—Bridgette, that's actually a brilliant plan. I'm Chris's intern! I can sneak in his office and delete what secret footage he has of us!" I jumped off of my bed happily. "I'm like an undercover spy or something."

"Courtney, no offence, but you're a horrible spy."

"Hey, I won that spy challenge back in Total Drama Action, didn't I?"

"Yes, you did. The old you. Let's face it, the new Courtney, or Haley rather, has gone soft, she can't sneak around like the old Courtney could."

"Are you saying I've lost my stuff? Haley is just as skilled as Courtney!"

"Whatever you say… and it's really weird when you talk in the third person. You make me think Haley and Courtney are two different people. They're both you."

I nodded even though she couldn't see it. "One used to be me," I muttered. "Now I don't know who I am anymore."

"What did you say?"

I realized I said the last part of my sentence in a mere whisper. "Nothing," I coughed. "Look I have to go meet Chris. Wish me luck."

"May God be with you."

"Why is everyone saying that?"

"YOU'RE WORKING FOR CHRIS MCLEAN! Start praying girl, you're headed to hell."

I groaned. "Thanks. Bye." I hung up the phone and looked at myself in the bathroom mirror. A black tank top with a scoop neck collar with a loose green skirt and black converses was covering my body. Today seemed like a good day to dress a little gloomy.

Who was looking back at me? Was it the Courtney that has tried so hard to change—or the Haley I've tried so hard to be? Have I really changed… or am I just pretending?

**~X~X~X~**

"Ah, there you are Haley." Chris gave me an evil smirk as I walked into his office. There was expensive furniture scattered around, a hot tub in the corner of the room, three mini fridges, a 60 inch flat screen TV, popcorn maker, and posters of women with great hair holding shampoo bottles. "I know what you're thinking," he said smugly.

_Holy shit I wished my house had half this stuff, _I thought.

"That's right, this place looks horrible," the TV host sighed. "I'm getting everything remodeled and demolished by the end of the summer."

"What? Why? This place is amazing!" I exclaimed.

"The rug doesn't match the ceiling fan."

"Are you kidding? So replace the rug! Don't ruin a room as expensive as this!"

Chris chuckled. "Silly girl, one day you'll learn. Now, let's get down to business." He slammed a stack of papers in my hands (they must have weighed ten pounds!)

"What do you want me to do with this?" I grunted.

"Those are my hair modeling Christmas post cards. I send them out every year."

"It's not even Christmas yet!"

"True, but this is your trial job, Haley. If you can do it rights then you're hired. Do it wrong, well, thanks for the time anyway."

"What exactly am I doing?"

"Go down to the footage room, there's a copy machine. Make five-hundred copies of each photo."

"Just how many friends do you have to send Christmas cards to?"

"Silly Haley, maybe if you're ever famous you'll understand."

_Screw you, _I thought as I walked out of his office. Wait a second, did he say footage room? Yes! This was my chance! I ran into the footage room and set the photos down. Surprisingly I was alone. Yes!

I sat down at the computer. There were separate files on the desktop. I clicked the 'Duncan' file. It gave me three options to choose from, TDI, TDA, TDWT and RS. RS I assumed meant 'Reunion Show'. I clicked it.

There was footage of him at the actual reunion show. The only footage of him and I was after the first night I came here and we were in the parking lot, deciding to get a cab together. They had nothing else on us.

I checked everything on Noah, Izzy, Bridgette and Duncan; nothing having to do with me or too entirely embarrassing. Chris probably just said that to scare them. If he really did have hundreds of cameras that's not only expensive, but highly unlikely.

Three hours passed and I finally had the photos copied. It took me nine trips back and forth from the office to the footage room to transfer all of the photos to his desk. But I got it done. And I had been a successful spy. Take that Bridgette.

But then I saw something sticking out from a closed drawer in his desk. The paper called to me. I hesitated. This wasn't my business. I'm not a snoop. But… there was something about knowing that paper. I hesitated but relented, and took the paper out from the desk… gasping loudly.

_Dear Chris McLean, Host of Total Drama _

_You're going to regret having this Reunion Show. Watch as all of your cast members disappear… one by one. This is a warning. Have your Reunion Show, face the consequences. If you don't, well, there's nothing to worry about. But know this; we're watching. And we're waiting. _

My eyes widened. This was a threat letter. The date was a week before I even arrived here. That means Chris knew… he knew there would be kidnapping… and he hasn't done a _thing _about it!

**Author's Note:**

**Ooooh drama! XD Hahaha! I forgot how fun this is. Anyway, sorry for taking an extra week to update, I had karate. Karate means a lot to me, so yeah. This chapter was Courtney-centric, yes, yes, I know. Don't worry, there will be more of the others in the other chapters. She still has to face Gwen heheheheh. **

**Thanks so much for all the reviews and a special thank you to Princess Absahail for being my 100****th**** reviewer! Congrats! *hands you imaginary cookie* And here are cookies for the rest of you awesome reviewers! *hands everyone else cookies* **

**So yes, indeed. XD Lol! Please review and thank you for reading! **

**~Luna **


	13. Number One Bad Boy

**The Long Road of Redemption: By Luna Mrow**

**Chapter Thirteen: #1 Bad Boy**

**~X~X~X~**

When I got back to my motel room that night I felt sick. How could Chris know about this? How could he know the cast members would be in danger if he started a reunion show? Did he truly not give a shit as long as he got paid? Even I wouldn't have been that selfish. I may have used to be selfish, manipulative and controlling but I still had a conscious. For someone to know they're putting others in danger and continue anyway… that's soulless.

It sickened me. This was wrong, so wrong. As I lay down in my bed I couldn't help but keep my eyes open. Who was next? Who was going to be kidnapped next?

Hours passed but I hardly got any sleep. Maybe I should go home? Realistically, what is there I can do? I can't go to the cops Ham will blame me. There's no way in hell I can stop them. As much as I want to, I can't, I'm just one girl.

I'm just a girl who wanted to be famous, got a chance to live her dream, and ruined it for herself. I'm the girl who ran away from her problems for three years. I'm the girl who can pretend she has no past but at the end of the day I'll still be Courtney. That's all I am. Courtney. That's all I've been the past nineteen years of my life; the girl who strived to change for a guy.

Quickly I got up from my bed and grabbed my car keys. After driving for ten minutes I arrived at my destination. I went up thirteen floors in an elevator and knocked on a door. It swung open. "Princess?"

"Hey," I mumbled. I had gone to Duncan's hotel room. "Can we talk?"

"It's almost 1:00 in the morning."

"Oh. That's okay, I'll come back later and—" when I turned away Duncan grabbed my arm and pulled me into his room, shutting the door. I found it kind of funny that I somehow ended up at my ex's hotel room for comfort. When we dated I wanted to get as far away as I could from him. Now I want to go to him with my problems. I realized Duncan was waiting for me to say something. "Chris knew."

"Knew what?" he asked.

"Chris knew cast members would get kidnapped if he held the reunion show. He didn't care. Now Justin and Trent are gone because of that."

Duncan muttered cuss words under his breath. "I should've known Chris would do this!" he yelled angrily. "Of course he wouldn't care we're in danger! He just cares about getting paid!"

I sat down on one of the big comfy chairs. Then something on the coffee table beside it caught my eye. Gwen's choker. "Was Gwen here?" I asked. My heart started beating faster.

"Yes," Duncan answered simply.

"Why?"

"Not now, Courtney."

"I'm not going to freak out Duncan. Can you just tell me why?"

He groaned. "She's trying to patch our relationship back together."

If I had been holding a glass, it would have broken. "She's with Trent!"

"She was. But apparently her and Trent have had relationship problems and he broke up with her. They were pretending to be a couple because they didn't want to have to deal with press."

"But Trent… he… he said he loved Gwen!"

"Apparently she doesn't love him as much as he does to her." Duncan leaned against his kitchen counter. "Gwen changed ever since we broke up. She's not the same anymore."

"Is that a good thing or bad thing?"

"Why do you want to know so badly? This isn't really any of your business." His voice was cold, like I was hitting a tender subject. Was Gwen a tender subject for Duncan? I can't ignore they had been together a year after TDWT. A lot can happen in a year, they had to be close.

"I'm not trying to be noisy," I said quietly. I stood up from my seat. "Can you just tell me one thing?"

"What?"

For a moment I hesitated. But finally my eyes looked straight into his. "Were you happier with Gwen than you were with me?"

Duncan broke his gaze from mine and turned his back to me. He wouldn't look at me. He couldn't look at me. "I haven't been happy for a long time," he said seriously.

His apprehension was directed at me. I could tell. "What are you keeping from me?" I questioned. "There's something you're not telling me."

"Leave it alone, Courtney," Duncan remarked.

"But—"

"Leave it alone."

**~X~X~X~**

Duncan and I decided to stay up the whole night; both of us couldn't sleep anyway. I dropped the subject but there was still a slight tension in the air. Was Duncan mad at me for something and just wasn't saying anything? That was what used to frustrate me about Duncan; he always kept things to himself when we dated. I was his girlfriend, he could've told me things, opened up to me—but he always shut me out.

It was 4:54 in the morning and we had invited Noah and Izzy over. Me and Duncan told them about the threatening letter and Chris. "This doesn't surprise me," Noah said. "I always knew that man was messed up."

"How can you three be so calm about this?" Izzy demanded. "I say we buy a bulldozer and ram it straight into Chris's face!"

"We'll go to jail," Noah pointed out. "And that won't solve anything."

"I know a guy who works with bulldozers," Duncan muttered.

"Not gonna happen," I said sternly. "But Izzy has a point. We can do something."

Noah's eyes widened. "Yes," he said. "We can." He grabbed his laptop (which I noticed he always carried with him) and started typing away like crazy.

"Are you looking up that magical cat video?" Izzy grinned.

He sighed. "Please shut up." I watched Noah as he typed away and then suddenly exclaim, "Aha!"

"Eureka!" Izzy cheered.

"What'd you find? A match on eHarmony?" Duncan teased.

"Shut up criminal. No, I searched Total Drama Cast popularity according to the fan base on a fan made website."

"And?" I asked.

"And we should be able to find out who's next on the kidnapping list!"

Duncan's brow furrowed. "Wait, what?" Noah sighed in frustration. "I don't speak geek," Duncan said.

"Apparently not. Out of all twenty-four cast members, including the recent ones Alejandro and Sierra, Justin's popularity rank was #5. Trent was #3."

"So the guys kidnapped who was near the top of the list?"

Noah nodded. "Sort of. Trent and Justin were among the top ten but they were also alone and away from the crowd, making them an easy target."

"What number am I?" Izzy grinned.

"14."

"Whoo-hoo!"

"That's bad, Izzy."

"It's better than 15."

"Whatever."

"Wait," I said, trying to make sense of things. "Your theory is that the kidnappers are taking the most popular, if they're alone and easy targets, right?"

Noah nodded.

"So," I continued. "What if we set a trap? What if when they went to kidnap someone from the top list we had the cops right by?"

"No one is going to be willing bait. And we don't know who they're next target is," Noah objected.

"Wait," I stated. "Who's number one?"

Noah scrolled to the top of the screen. "Duncan."

"What? I'm the most popular?"

Noah nodded. "Everyone loves a bad boy."

"Exactly," Izzy suddenly grinned. "No one can resist the bad boy. Especially when he's number one…"

**~X~X~X~**

Today's reunion show was being held at a water park. All the cast members were supposed to meet at 11:00. The plan was Duncan goes off on his own, Izzy calls the cops, he goes somewhere un-crowded, the kidnappers show up (hopefully) and the cops show up first. It was an extremely flawed plan. But it was all we got. I hoped—_prayed—_ Duncan wouldn't do anything stupid. I was against this plan but Izzy and Noah insisted. Of course Duncan agreed to do it… he always agrees to the stupidest things.

The water park rides looked fun. I came out of the changing rooms in an onyx color two piece bikini. The onyx matched my eyes. I looked good. I hated to brag and to seem vain, but I couldn't help but feel happy how good I looked. Noah was wearing his red trunks with blue drawstrings, and Izzy wore a bright yellow bikini top and black swim shorts.

"We can at least go on a few rides, right?" Izzy asked.

"I'm not riding anything until I know Duncan is okay," I replied. Izzy shrugged and walked off into the shade underneath a tree, leaving Noah and I.

Noah smirked. "I can't believe we're doing something like this. I've never done anything this crazy."

"Me too."

"You know, if we were back on the plane of TDWT three years ago and someone told me I'd be spending time with Courtney, Izzy and Duncan and have fun, I wouldn't have believed them. It's kind of funny, isn't it?"

That was Noah's way of saying I was his friend. I smiled and nodded. "It is. Thank you for everything you've done, Noah. Really."

"So if we're friends can you go buy me some nachos?"

I smirked. "We're not that good of friends."

"Courtn-eh-I mean Haley! Come on!"

I laughed. "Oh alright." He smirked as I walked off. There were thirty food stalls in the park but only one sold nachos. Just my luck. Where the crowds weren't at was where the nacho stand was, right outside the parking lot. There was one other person in line besides me in line and she was ordering herself some nachos. I waited patiently behind her.

She got her nachos and turned around—my expression dropped. _Gwen_. She saw me when I saw her. "Oh, it's _you_," she said, rolling her eyes.

I gave her a sneer. "It's not like I planned on seeing your face."

"You better watch it," she growled.

"Or what?" I challenged. "You don't scare me."

"Last time we fought you got a cheap shot in. This time, I'll kick your ass." Gwen set down her nachos.

I laughed. "I'm not fighting you."

"Why not?"

"Because I don't need to fight you, _Gwen_."

There was a certain way I said Gwen's name. Her eyes widened. "Courtney?"

_Shit. _

"Oh my god… you're supposed to be dead!" she shrieked.

"Shut up," I hissed.

"Well no wonder you were so upset when you first saw me. Were you upset I had your ex's jacket on me? Or are you still upset from three years ago when Duncan dumped you for me?" Gwen asked, smirking.

_That_ was a _low_ blow. "People date people, why shouldn't shit date shit?" I sneered.

"You're just jealous he left you for me! He liked me better _Courtney_, why can't you accept that?"

"You know Gwen, I had a lot of accepting to do. I had to accept the fact Duncan liked you better. I had to accept the fact I drove him away. I had to accept there were things I had to work on in myself." Her expression dropped. I smiled poisonously. "But you know what you need to accept? That you helped him cheat on me. That you wronged me. That you were the other woman. That the minute you helped him cheat you became no better than him."

Gwen's face lost all hatred. She stared at me blankly. And then she grabbed her nachos again and started to walk off. Before leaving the stand she turned back to me, "Maybe so."

I watched her walk away. Was that really it? She didn't have anything else to say to me? She wasn't going to try to hit me? Get a cheap shot in? I ordered the nachos. For the few minutes it took the guy to prepare them I thought about what Duncan had said.

"_Gwen changed ever since we broke up. She's not the same anymore." _

"Here you are miss."

The employee handed me the nachos and I paid him, walking back into the parking lot and towards Noah and Izzy who were in the park. And then I heard a loud _plop _sound. My head turned. "No!" I cried.

Gwen's nachos dropped to the asphalt as two men dressed in black threw her into a dark van, driving off recklessly! This time I was too late. I couldn't help her.

She was the third victim. Gwen was the third to be kidnapped on the list.

**Author's Note:**

**Whoo! Long chapter! Man I'm tired. But happy I wrote this! I hope y'all enjoy, thanks for reading. Not much for me to say. Oh, this story is starting to come to an end. Don't be sad, I don't know how many chapters until it actually does, I'm just saying it's starting to. I couldn't tell you how many chapters until it did honestly. This story still has a way to go… kinda. **

**Please review and thank you for reading!**

**~Luna**


	14. Taking Chances

**The Long Road of Redemption: By Luna Mrow**

**Chapter Fourteen: Taking Chances**

**~X~X~X~**

I fell to my knees on the asphalt; my eyes wide as I saw Gwen get kidnapped. Three times. This has happened to me three times. No more. No more! What am I going to do? Am I going to cry? Am I going to just run back to Noah, Izzy and Duncan so they can comfort me, tell me it's okay, tell me not to worry?

And suddenly a cold hand placed itself on my shoulder. A chill went through my spine. Slowly my head turned and I saw the figure that was towering over me, blocking the sun. It was a man who looked like he was in his mid-twenties, with pale skin, umber brown hair that fell over his piercing green eyes, and a smirk planted on his mouth. He stared at me intensely. "Hello dear," he finally said lowly. "Would you care for a hand?"

Without really thinking I reached for his extended hand and he helped me to my feet. "Who are you?" I asked quietly.

He smiled and tilted his head. "I'm more interested in you," he replied. "You seem to be at all the wrong places at the wrong times. It's a wonder how you do it."

"Do what?" I asked cautiously.

"Oh don't pretend like you don't know. How do you always end up at all my schemes?" It suddenly occurred to me that this man—whoever he was—was the reason for the kidnappings. Where did he come from? I didn't see him before. "When my boys told me about a feisty girl who tried to stop them from doing their job, I was immediately intrigued. I thought, 'just what kind of girl tries to chase kidnappers when they went after Justin, and what kind of girl tries to actually fight my men when they went after Trent?' So you see I knew you'd be here when we took Gwen, whether or not you planned to be or not."

_Run Courtney, wait for the opportunity, and run! _

"What my boys didn't tell me," the man continued. "Was just how beautiful you are. Smart and pretty, that's a combination that you don't see every day my dear. And what do they call you?"

_Be brave, _I told myself, _if this man for just one second knows you're scared, it's over_. "Tell me yours first," I replied defiantly.

He laughed. "Feisty, another rare trait to add to beauty and smarts. You may call me Blackwood. What do they call you?"

"Haley."

"Haley," Blackwood repeated. "Tell me Haley, what do you have to do with the Total Drama cast?"

"Look, I don't have to—"

"Answer me? You think you don't have to answer my question? Haley, my dear, I'm a patient man. I don't like treating ladies like you with disrespect, but when they don't cooperate sometimes I have to. Now, of course I'm not stopping you. You may run if you'd like." Blackwood's eyes suddenly got a dangerous gleam, "But I wonder what the chances are that I run after you and catch you? I wonder what the chances are that I silent you before you scream?"

It then dawned on me that my life was in danger. Blackwood was toying with me, finding out what information he could on me. "So Haley, you want to answer a question or play cat and mouse?" he asked me again. His voice was smooth like velvet but layered with sadism.

"I work as an intern for Chris," I answered.

"And why would you lower yourself and work for someone like Chris McLean?" he asked suspiciously.

"Because," I stammered, "It's what I decided to do."

Blackwood shook his head. "So my boys were caught in the act of kidnapping by a simple intern? Our whole operation could be exposed by an intern? My scheme could be ruined by an intern?" He started laughing in a sickly deep voice. "See my dear, I don't believe that. I believe there's more to a girl like you than you're telling me. It's not polite to lie."

"Tell me Blackwood," I said bravely. "What are the chances you stop the kidnappings if I asked you nicely to stop?"

He laughed shortly. "Slim."

"And what are the chances you return Gwen, Trent and Justin if I ask nicely?" I asked.

"Slim," he answered.

"What are the chances that I get away from you if I ran like hell?"

"More than slim." His voice was deep yet again.

"Well Blackwood, that's the funny thing about me. I take chances."

As soon as I said that I shot off running as fast as I could! Crowds, I needed to be in crowds! Blackwood chased after me like I knew he would but I had a head start from my surprise take off. I was out of the parking lot and in the water park entrance, where there was a forming crowd. I immediately ran head on into the crowd of people, a round of 'hey watch it!', 'what the hell?' and 'get in line!' rounding off as I did so. Blackwood was having as much trouble with the crowd as I was.

Suddenly I felt an arm grab me and I was shoved to the ground, Blackwood on top of me, his eyes wild as he threw an elbow to my stomach! I grunted from the impact but didn't stop fighting him. We struggled, and he landed another elbow but this time to my cheek! The pain was like getting hit with a train and I groaned, knowing I was losing this fight.

"You little bitch!" Blackwood hissed. "I gave you a chance! I gave you a chance to cooperate!"

Another elbow to my face. I coughed up blood but still struggled with him, even though I was getting weaker by the second. And suddenly he was off me—Blackwood was now on the ground besides me, wrestling someone else!

Duncan!

"Get off of her!" Duncan yelled. He punched Blackwood in the face mercilessly. He retaliated and kicked Duncan, but it was too late, the punk had already delivered another punch straight in the face! Before I knew it he was at my side, helping me to my feet. "Come on, we need to get out of here!"

"Duncan, wait!"

But suddenly he picked me up and was running through the water park. I was still a little delirious from Blackwood's punch so I didn't try to yell to stop him; I just tried not to lose my consciousness. Before I knew it we were back in the parking lot. "Duncan, no!" I shrieked. "This was where they took Gwen!"

He didn't answer me and suddenly I was on the ground, my face going straight into the hard asphalt. My head was bleeding and I knew there were forming bruises on my body but I used my strength to sit up, only to see two men dressed in black holding each side of Duncan down. Blackwood then appeared. He bent down to on his knees beside me, "I win."

"Don't take Duncan! Please, no!" I screamed.

Blackwood laughed. "Take Duncan? My dear, no, I'm not going to take him."

"You promised you wouldn't hurt her!" Duncan suddenly exclaimed.

"What's going on?" I demanded. Blackwood grabbed me by my hair and threw me into Duncan and I slammed into his torso. I looked up into his icy teal blue eyes. "What did you do? What's going on?"

"Princess, I'm sorry," he told me. "You've got to believe me, I didn't know it'd happen this way!"

"What is going on?" I shrieked. "What did you do?"

"He took a side," Blackwood replied. "And he chose mine." All of a sudden I was thrown by one of the men dressed in black into the back of another van! Oh my god! They're taking me! They're kidnapping me!

"Duncan!" I cried desperately. "Why? Why?" But the doors of the minivan were shut and I was in darkness. I could hear the car peel away and for the first time in a long time I really wished I was dead. I really wished I had drowned all those years ago.

He broke my heart once when he betrayed me with Gwen. And I was stupid enough to think he changed. But I was wrong. He broke my heart twice. He betrayed me again. Duncan betrayed me.

**Author's Note:**

**Well holy guacamole the drama! Okay I know that if a girl was running from a man in a crowded water park and he started beating her up someone would say something or a security guard would notice. So bear with me as far as the logical side, please. People can be oblivious, right? I mean if I was at a water park and saw someone getting beat up I'd buy popcorn. LOL I'm totally kidding. I'm not that kind of person. **

**Anyway, the story I guess is two-thirds finished. How many chapters are left, I'm not sure, but things have taken a dramatic turn, haven't they? **

**Can Courtney find what strength she has to move on? I mean, the chick is heartbroken. Duncan backstabbed her once, and now he's doing it again? Or is there more to this dramatic tale? Well I promise to update soon. I hope everyone has a good Labor day and weekend! **

**Thank you for reading and please review. Each review is greatly appreciated and encouraging!**

**~Luna**


	15. Hatred

**The Long Road of Redemption**

**Chapter Fifteen: Hatred**

**~X~X~X~**

When I woke up I was in a dark room and my eyes couldn't see anything. I was on the hard ground and my body ached. How long was I out? Slowly I sat up but my face immediately bumped into something. "Ouch!" I hissed. My hands moved to what my face bumped into. It felt wooden, like a handle. Where the hell am I?

I suddenly remembered there was my cell phone in my back pocket of my jeans. With the bright blue light of my cell I saw what I had bumped into was in fact— a broom. "Stupid broom," I muttered.

"Actually it's a mop."

"Ah!" I jumped in surprise and shined my cell phone light on—Noah? "What are you doing here?" I shrieked.

"On the weekends I like to lock myself up in closets," he remarked sarcastically. "What do you _think_ I'm doing here?"

I got off my hands and knees and sat down. "You were kidnapped too." Now with my cell phone light I searched around the closet; it was small and filled with mops, brooms, buckets and cleaning materials, barely big enough to hold me and Noah. "How were you taken?"

He shrugged. "Duncan told me to—"

"Duncan," I interrupted. "I never thought I'd hate him anymore than I do right now. He betrayed us, Noah. He betrayed me. I thought he changed. For a few days—I actually thought—I actually thought he wasn't the same petty criminal he was back on the island."

"Courtney now is not the time to get emotional on me. Check your phone, does it have service?"

I rolled my eyes at Noah's lack of sympathy, I wish Bridgette was stuck with me, at least she cares. "No, there's no service," I answered.

"Damn. There goes calling for help."

"How long have we been in here anyway?"

Noah shook his head. "All night I think. Today is Saturday, the last day of the reunion. Chris is having a huge finale at the Entertainment Center."

"So the chances Blackwood and his lackeys are planning to ruin it?"

"Big."

"Shit," I hissed. "There has to be a way out of here." I stood up and this time held onto the mop handle so it wouldn't poke me.

"There's no use trying, Courtney. We're stuck."

I turned to Noah. "You know what your problem is?"

"I surround myself with nutcases and convince myself they're my friends?" he remarked sarcastically.

"No. You brush your hair in the same direction every single day. It wouldn't kill you to brush it left instead of right, maybe change shampoos to give it volume."

"Courtney, why are you telling me this?"

"Because Noah, I may not come back. Blackwood might just kill me. And if I die I want you to know just how predictable your hairstyles are." I jiggled the handle of the closet door. It swung open. In complete shock I turned to Noah, "You didn't even check to see if the door was locked?"

"Well excuse me for assuming kidnappers would _LOCK_ us in here!"

I pushed the door open and standing a few feet away was Blackwood. This was a trap. Was he waiting for me? Could he hear Noah and me's conversation?

"Come on out here, Haley," he said smoothly. "Noah can stay inside the closet however, it's you I want to talk to."

Noah could hear Blackwood from inside the closet. "Be careful!" he mouthed.

I took a huge gulp and stepped out of the closet. We were in a small carpeted room with no windows, only two chairs serving as furniture, and one door. _One door Courtney. That could be your only way out of here_.

"Sit," Blackwood beckoned. We both sat down in big red chairs. They were the most comfortable thing I had ever sat in. Blackwood may be evil, but damn, he knows how to shop for chairs. "Comfortable?" he asked almost smugly.

I scoffed. "No."

"Oh your feistiness is so entertaining my dear."

I scowled at him. "What do you want with me? Where are we?"

He chuckled. "We're in the basement area of the Entertainment Center. It's where we've been this whole time dear, no one was smart enough to check, that's all." He stared at me with his calculating eyes. "I'm sure you're just dying to know what my evil plot is, aren't you?"

"I'm curious," I admitted. "For awhile I thought you were just going to kidnap each cast mate one by one. At least, that's what you said in your letter to Chris."

He laughed. "So you read that, did you?"

"Every word."

"Then you know that I'm doing all this for Chris McLean. He's the one I'm after."

"Oh really? If that's the case then why kidnap the cast mates? Why not just kidnap him?"

"Haley, I'm not sure if you understand the concept of revenge. I don't just want to kidnap him, and let me tell you, I'd do so much worse than that. I want to destroy him. I want his world to crumble and strip him of his fame, until he's left with nothing. So you see, taking Justin, Trent, and Gwen was nothing personal, but it was necessary."

There was a lingering silence in the air. "You're wrong, Blackwood," I then said.

He raised a brow. "Oh?"

"I understand revenge. I understand it all too well. Revenge—it's nasty business. It possesses you, it fuels you, and it changes you. Revenge turned me into something I never want to become again. Revenge made my lose myself, lose grip on who I was, and it's taken three years for me to recover. And you know what's funny? I still don't know who I am anymore."

"And tell me Haley, did you ever have your revenge?"

Flashbacks suddenly ran through my head:

_Duncan and me on the island. He was scared of Celine Dion music standee. Me taking his hand in mine. "It's okay if you don't do it…"_

"_Princess!"_

"_I wish you'd stop calling me that." _

"_Courtney! Wait! I made this for you!" _

_A hand carved wooden skull. _

"_Duncan! Okay, this is really weird and creepy, but I love it! I'll never forget you!"_

_The shock on his face when he saw me in the bank of Total Drama Action. The accidental kiss we shared in the pre-historic challenge. How fast his heart really was beating when we thought we were going to die in the spy challenge. The celebration when he won TDA. _

_Me accusing him of liking Gwen. Me pushing him to stop talking to her, to stop acting friendly with her. Him leaving the show because of how crazy Gwen and I drove him. _

_The look of shock on his face when Gwen and I kidnapped him from a London raid in TDWT. The hurt I felt when Tyler said he and Gwen kissed during the Greece challenge. The thousands of tears I cried that night. The utter despair and loneliness I felt. _

_Hatred. _

_The want for revenge. The need for revenge. Me getting Gwen eliminated off the show. _

_Hatred. _

_Duncan. Wanting Duncan gone. Never wanting to see his stupid face again. _

_Hatred._

_For myself. Not being able to look at myself in the mirror. Hating what I had become. Swimming. Swimming away from the cast mates when the Hawaiian volcano exploded. _

_Hatred. _

_Hatred. _

_Hatred! _

"Haley?" Blackwood then asked.

His voice brought me out of my flashbacks. My heavy lidded eyes lifted up to him and I shook my head slowly. "No," I murmured.

"No, what?" he asked.

"Revenge only hurts you," I said. "Revenge only hurts you."

Blackwood stood up from his seat. "You're probably wondering about Duncan, aren't you?"

"I don't care," I muttered.

"Oh, I think you do, dear. You see, after we took Gwen I had a personal chat with Duncan. I told him if he didn't help us take you, that we'd cut Gwen up and scar her real bad. However I left it as a choice. He chose to help us."

Duncan… sold me out to help Gwen? He chose Gwen over me?

Blackwood laughed. "You see Haley, Chris and I also have something in common. We're both sadistic son-of-bitches who just love to watch other people fight. We both love to cause drama." He headed for the door, leaving me sitting in the chair. "You and Noah can try and leave, but it won't do you much good. There are guards outside this door."

The door slammed and he was gone. I continued to sit down. Duncan sold me out. He didn't just betray me, he betrayed me for Gwen. Did he ever really like me? Or was he pretending this whole time?

Noah walked out of the closet and sat down. "Wow these chairs are comfy," he said.

Tears were threatening to fall from my eyes. For awhile… I really thought… I really believed Duncan liked me. No. I won't cry for Duncan. Not again.

"We're screwed," I mumbled. "Blackwood is going to have all the cast mates and he's going after Chris. We're just pawns."

"Well being pawns is no fun. I'd rather be a knight. No, a queen! I'd rather be a queen and then I'd order my kingdom to wear funny hats every Tuesday. We are talking about chess, right?"

Noah and I turned our heads. "IZZY!"

"The one and only," she smiled. She was standing in the corner of the room, dressed all in black, grinning widely.

"How did you escape?" Noah asked.

"Silly Noah, I was never kidnapped." Izzy winked. "Can't be contained."

"Izzy, what about the others? Were anymore taken?" I asked.

"Yeah, unfortunately. All the cast mates have been kidnapped," Izzy answered. "I think these baddies are planning something for today's final event. If we're going to execute a rescue mission we've only got a few hours to do it!"

**Author's Note:**

**Oh the drama is just starting. Well actually it's been simmering, and now it's going to be spiced up ;D Will Izzy, Noah, and Courtney serve Blackwood and his gang some justice? Is Duncan really the bad guy? And does he really hate Courtney just like he did in TDWT? Does chicken and bleu cheese taste good together? You bet your muffins it does. **

**Will I update soon? Of course. Will there be ninjas? No. But does that change the fact ninjas are awesome? Hell no, ninjas are always awesome. **

**Haha just having some fun ;D Please review and thank you for reading!**

**~Luna **


	16. Look At Me

**The Long Road of Redemption**

**Chapter Sixteen: Look At Me**

**Warning: **This chapter has language. I don't particularly care to use it, but currently Courtney is upset and when people are upset they tend to cuss and such. So yes, I thought I should warn y'all. I'm sorry if you feel it ruins the story :/

**~X~X~X~**

There was only one way out and Izzy showed us it was through the vents. Noah and I were reluctant to try and climb in there, but if we wanted to get out of this stupid room we had no choice. Izzy climbed up first to show us the way, I went second, and Noah went last. "Be quiet," Izzy warned us, "they can hear us if we get too loud."

"How do we know that the ventilation system can support all of our weights?" Noah questioned. "I'm 120 pounds, Izzy you're probably 105, Courtney you look 115. That's 340 pounds with all of us together."

"Wow you're smart," Izzy awed.

"Hey! I'll have you know I'm 110, not 115," I said matter-of-factly.

Noah rolled his eyes. "Three years have come and gone and your jeans still look the same," he muttered. I smacked him in the arm. "Whatever. I just hope the vent system is strong," Noah said, ignoring my smack.

"Let's get up there and split up," Izzy suggested. I barely had enough room to crawl, but it was better than nothing. Izzy started crawling and Noah and I followed close behind. "So I still don't get why that Blackwood guy is so grumpy," Izzy said in a low voice, being careful not to talk too loud.

"His name is familiar to me now," Noah said. "Remember back on TDWT when Sierra was saying how Chris used to be in a band? Well Blackwood is one of Chris's old friends. He and Chris both auditioned to be the host for the Total Drama series but obviously Chris won, so it looks like Blackwood is trying to get revenge out of jealousy."

My brows furrowed. "Whoa Noah, how did you find that out so quickly?"

He shrugged. "I googled him with your phone."

"…I don't have internet on my phone."

"Right, well, next bill you get you're going to have a fee for 39.99. Just saying."

If it weren't for the fact the vent was small, I would've smacked Noah twice. "Okay, so what kind of crazy are we dealing with? The dangerous kind? I mean is Blackwood the kind of dude that will kill if we aren't careful?" Izzy asked.

"He's talked to you the most, Courtney. He seems to like you," Noah answered.

I scoffed. "Yeah, I wish he didn't. Blackwood hasn't actually killed anyone… so far. But he threatened to cut and scar up Gwen to Duncan. I think if it were anyone he'd try to kill it'd be Chris and Chef. But I think we should assume Blackwood will try and kill us all."

"So what's the plan?" Izzy asked. "Call the cops?"

Noah rolled his eyes. "Oh yeah, because Officer Ham is _so_ reliable."

Izzy nodded. "What should we do, Courtney?"

_"You see Haley, Chris and I also have something in common. We're both sadistic son-of-bitches who just love to watch other people fight. We both love to cause drama."_

Blackwood's words rang through my head. They both love to cause drama.

_What if…_

_What if this was all a part of his plan? _

_What if he's just playing with us? What if he's just playing with me? _

_What if…?_

"Courtney," Noah said. "Are you okay?"

I lowered my head so my hair blocked my eyes. "You and Izzy go get the cops."

"What about you?"

Slowly I shook my head. "Blackwood isn't going to let me go. He wants me here. I'm a part of his sick little game."

"Screw Blackwood! Come with us!" Izzy cried.

"No, Izzy," I mumbled. "I need to stay here. You and Noah go, now."

"But—"

I looked Izzy in the eyes. "Please. Take my word for it. Go get the cops and make sure they come to the Entertainment Center by the time the show starts. Do whatever you can to get them here." We came to a fork in the vents and as Izzy and Noah turned left I turned right.

"Court, you can't take them on by yourself. Whatever you're planning to do, you can't do it by yourself," Noah said. "You need to escape with us."

I looked at Noah and shook my head no. "What if that just upsets Blackwood more? We both know what he's capable of. Don't worry."

"But—"

"I won't be alone," I promised. "I'll see you soon. I promise."

There was a lingering silence in the ventilation system. "Come on Noah," Izzy said gently, grabbing his arm. "We will see you, Courtney." She grabbed Noah around the waist and helped him crawl away. I stayed in the same spot and watched them crawl off until I couldn't see them anymore.

"I will see you again," I whispered softly. "I promise."

**~X~X~X~**

Twenty long minutes had passed and I was still crawling through the vents. This was a huge entertainment center, it had a lot of rooms, a lot of space, and apparently a lot of ventilation. Along my way there was a slit in the vents so I could look down and see what room I was above.

While crawling I saw Heather and Alejandro in their dress up room getting pretty steamy (if you catch my drift), Katie and Sadie crying over a picture of Justin missing, Harold drawing a picture of Leshawna Jr., Sierra chasing Cody, Owen eating a sandwich (big surprise), and Geoff and Bridgette snuggling calling each other pet names (hey, at least they're engaged).

None of them had the slightest idea they were in danger.

And then I took a sharp right and overheard a familiar voice… who was it? I crawled closer and closer and looked down. Trent!

He was leaning against a wall, in the same room I had been in with no windows two comfy chairs, and guards blocking the only door. He had his arms wrapped around Gwen, who was leaning into his chest.

Whoa. Are those two… back together? But I thought Gwen liked Duncan!

_That little who—_

_Courtney! You don't know that! _

_But she's—_

_You can't just call people whores, it's not nice. _

_I technically never called her a whore, you interrupted—_

_Courtney!_

"Enough!" I hissed to myself. I hate it when I mentally argue with myself. Those are the times where I really think I am crazy. Wait a minute… if Trent and Gwen were one of the ones kidnapped, I must be close to the rest who were kidnapped!

Crawling faster than I had ever crawled in a ventilation system before, I went to the next room and saw Justin sitting in a room like Trent's. He was looking in a mirror and making weird faces. Okay let's see, the only ones kidnapped were me, Gwen, Trent, and Justin. They're all okay.

I released a thankful sigh and started crawling again. There was a sudden cave in, and I realized that I was starting to get too heavy for the vent's support! Okay! I admit it, I'm 115, but I've been trying to lose five pounds, I swear!

The vent beneath me caved in and I screamed as I fell from the roof and crashed onto the carpet below. Fragments of the wall crashed down on me and I shielded my face with my arms desperately. Damn it, I fell on my hip, I can already feel an intense pain shoot up there. With a slight whimper I flipped over on my side, grimacing from the hurt.

"Courtney, are you okay?"

My eyes opened. I know that voice. And I hate that voice. My head turned and I saw him. He was standing there, teal eyes wide; I'm sure the last thing he was expecting was me crashing from the ceiling (and when I think about it, that does make things a little awkward).

"What the hell did you—"

He reached out for me and I quickly made distance between us. "Don't fucking touch me, Duncan," I interrupted.

His face became unreadable. "Listen to me Court, I didn't—"

"Didn't what?" I asked venomously. "Didn't think your little plan would be exposed? You know Duncan, I should really give you applause. You have successfully **backstabbed** me twice. What, now you want a best two-outta-three? Congratulations you piece of shit, you had me convinced you liked me, you had me convinced you didn't hate me, you had me convinced that I liked you!"

"I did what I had to do! I did it for you!" Duncan yelled. He was just as angry as I was. Good. Fucking great, it's better when we're both angry. He stepped forward towards me, but instead of backing up I held my ground fiercely.

"You did what you _had_ to do?" I sneered. "Just how long were you leading me on? Did you laugh and snicker to yourself every night because you knew you were fooling me?"

His hands went into fists. "How can you say that? Do you really think I'd do that to you?"

"Oh well fucking excuse me! I do believe you were the same way when you were two-timing me with Gwen! You just thought it was so funny that you had me and Gwen under your belt, didn't you? Why should now be any different?"

"Fuck Courtney! You're always bringing up what I did to you on Total Drama! You say you've changed, but here you are, _blaming_ me!"

I groaned in frustration. "You're the one who hasn't changed! You're still the same asshole!"

"Oh, and I'm supposed to believe you're not the same spoiled princess bitch?"

"I'm not the same, Duncan! I've changed! I don't give a fuck if you don't see it, if anyone has seen it! I changed for _me_! I didn't change for _you_." Now I was seething, breathing hard, and I walked even closer to Duncan, staring him straight into his raging teal eyes. "You sold me out for Gwen," I said. My voice was choked but I didn't care. "You let Blackwood kidnap me to save Gwen. You've been betraying me this whole time."

His hands clamped down on my shoulders and he towered over me as he held me in his grip. I didn't try to struggle this time, I kept staring at him. "I never joined Blackwood," Duncan told me in a struggled voice, like he was struggling not to yell at my face. "He threatened me. He told me that if I didn't help him kidnap you he would have his henchmen kill you."

The look in his eyes… they were serious. He wasn't lying to me. Duncan was telling the truth. "But... Blackwood told me… he said that if you helped kidnap me because he told you if you didn't, Gwen would be hurt."

Duncan shook his head. "He lied to you princess. He never said anything about Gwen. And I helped him to save your life. I've seen Blackwood's henchmen; they're some serious football built giants. I couldn't take them on by myself."

_"You see Haley, Chris and I also have something in common. We're both sadistic son-of-bitches who just love to watch other people fight. We both love to cause drama."_

I should have known Blackwood lied to me. I'm such an idiot. I believed him. He's toying with me. I should have known.

"Courtney," Duncan murmured, his grip slackening on my shoulders. I couldn't look at him. My head was low, my bangs covering my eyes. Tears were brimming at my eyes but I begged myself not to cry. Even after everything, how can I be so weak? How can I be so naïve? "Hey, Courtney," Duncan repeated.

I slowly shook my head. "I'm so sorry," I mumbled. My voice was choked, he probably knew I was getting emotional.

"It's okay Princess," Duncan said softly. "You didn't know. Hell, I'd be mad at me too."

"No," I mumbled. "No."

His hands went from my shoulders. "There's something I've been too chicken-shit to tell you," he muttered. "Do you want me to tell you?"

"I guess," I mumbled.

"Okay, but look at me when I tell you."

Slowly and hesitantly, I lifted my head and finally saw his handsome face. Those teal blue eyes captured me, like they always do. "Okay," I whispered.

"When you first went missing after TDWT I didn't think any of it. I thought you were trying to get publicity for yourself, putting on a little career boosting act and you'd show up in a week." He gave me a small smirk, but it was an empty one. "But then a week turned into a few, and a few turned into a month, a month turned into five months. The search team gave up. They then proclaimed you to be dead. All the tabloids and newspapers said Courtney Vega from Total Drama was dead."

I suddenly saw something in his eyes I should've seen earlier. _Hurt_. Did I… hurt Duncan?

"At first I still didn't believe it," he continued. "But I was in denial. I finally accepted you were dead. 'Princess is dead' I told myself. And after I told myself that I found me telling myself this every damn day after that. When I was alone I'd tell myself you were gone. You were dead. And then I started thinking… I started thinking about our time on the island."

He paused. I was now staring at him with big curious eyes. He ran a hand through his mowhawk.

"I thought about all the times I'd tell you that you had a pole up your butt," he continued. "I thought about TDA. How jealous you were that I went and saw a movie with Lindsay. How jealous I was when Justin was trying to get with you. Every day, I'd have flashbacks, moments you us together, whether we were fighting or not. Then I started thinking about TDWT."

_Oh no, _I thought. _This is when what he says will turn bad about me._

"I could hear you crying that night, you know," he said. "When Tyler announced I had kissed Gwen. I heard you crying that night. And I just sat there, not caring, thinking about Gwen. I was really… an asshole. I told myself I hated you, I tried to convince myself that you were out of my life, and that you were a bitch. But the minute I realized you were dead… the minute I thought you were dead… I realized I didn't hate you. I didn't want you out of my life. I wanted you. But you were gone, I was too late."

He shook his hand and released a heavy sigh. "So imagine my surprises when it turns out you're not dead this whole time. You're alive and you're different. I noticed that immediately. And I was angry at first, I thought, 'this bitch let me think she was dead this whole time. She had me convinced she was gone. I spent three years hating myself and it turns out she was alive this whole time? How could she do this to me'? But you know what? I thought about it. And I'd want to have run from me too if I was you, Court. I'd have wanted to run away from me too."

He was finally finished. Duncan had made his confession. He did what I did for the past three years; he tried to run.

But we don't have to run anymore. I'm tired of running.

I put my hands on his chest, running them up to the sides of his neck. His arms went around my waist and I could feel myself flush against him. "I never hated you," I whispered.

"I never hated you either."

This time he didn't kiss me, I met him halfway and our lips fused together roughly. We poured all of our suppressed frustration and emotions into each other, with every nip and suck. His hands were gripping my waist to hold me in place, and one of my hands went to his hair while the other stayed on his chest. There was nothing gentle about our actions, he kissed me roughly, and when I felt his tongue piercing prick my mouth I couldn't help but smile. I really hate that tongue piercing.

His tongue rolled over mine and we stumbled backwards, until finally I was sandwiched between him and the wall of the room. We didn't break our mouths apart, and our hands were going wild. But finally air became necessary and we broke off, our breathless pants filling the air. "I fucking missed that," Duncan muttered, before diving in for my neck.

I laughed and still struggled to catch my breath. "I missed it too. But we can't—"

"Yeah, yeah, I know what you're going to say," he growled. "We need to save the others from Blackwood, blah, blah, blah." Duncan lifted his head up to mine. I finally saw that delinquent gleam in his eyes. He gave my swollen lips another quick kiss. "You're mine later, assuming we survive."

"I fucking hope so," I smiled. He smirked in agreement.

**Author's Note: **

**Oh deary dear. Someone open a window, I think I'm getting red XD Okay, not that I need to explain myself, but I get kind of… embarrassed at romance scenes. Bahaha I think because I'm sort of a derp at sex jokes and what not. I have the mentality of an innocent child. Oh jeez, not that's any of people's business XD At least Duncan and Courtney are nineteen (well he's twenty). So I guess what I wrote was pretty mild. It wasn't that bad, was it? **

**Ahaha I'm so crazy. **

**Anyway, have y'all noticed that this chapter is longer than the rest? That, my dear readers, is because this story is now officially my most reviewed story so far. It has surpassed 'Parenthood Is Never Simple' and I can't be more happier! Whoo hoo! **

**So yeah, hopefully this story had you laughing, awing, fan-girling and what not. This was the chapter I had been planning since the beginning. I hope you see now that Duncan wasn't being a nincompoop (and how many times does the insult 'nincompoop' get used? Haha I have to use it), Duncan was just being stubborn. **

**This story, is close to being over. Again, sorry if the language made you… uncomfortable? **

**Please review and thank you for reading!**

**~Luna**


	17. Who I Am Now

**The Long Road of Redemption**

**Chapter Seventeen: Who I Am Now**

**~X~X~X~**

The room it turns out Duncan and I were in was like the one Noah and I were in. No windows, two comfy chairs, one door being blocked by Blackwood's guards. We couldn't use the vents because of the cave-in I caused.

"Any ideas?" Duncan asked me.

"I'm thinking."

"You might want to think faster, sweetheart."

"I'm thinking as fast as I can."

"Not fast enough."

"Ugh! I swear sometimes I could—ah!"

He was alarmed by my sudden 'ah!' "What?" he demanded.

I suddenly smiled slyly. "What if… we walk right out the door?"

Duncan gave me a look. "Yeah, great, and maybe we'll walk right through the body guards like we're intangible. Really Courtney! You're supposed to be smart!"

"You didn't let me finish, dumbass," I hissed. My hand reached into his front jeans pocket and pulled out his switchblade. "You said you had three of these babies, right?"

Duncan reached into the two side pockets of his jeans and pulled out the other two. "Yeah babe, what are you planning?"

"I'm going to stab you."

"Court!"

"No, no! Not for real, pretend, just to get the attention of the body guards. Think about it, you'll start screaming and yelling and I'll start laughing maniacally, they come in the room, and they see me holding a switchblade and you lying on the floor."

Duncan nodded. "I see, and then we stab them and escape?"

"NO! No one is going to die!" I shrieked. "God, sometimes I think you're serious!"

His expression stayed the same. He was serious. But now wasn't the time to hit him… I could do it later. "So why can't I be the one to stab you?" he asked, almost casually.

"That sounds so wrong," I remarked. "Because to them you're Duncan Adams from Total Drama, and I'm just some fan named Haley who Blackwood has a crush on."

"Ew."

"No kidding. Okay get on the floor and start yelling."

Duncan did so. "By the way, _Haley_, if you want to convince them you stabbed me, you need to hold the blade right." I looked down to my hands and saw I was gripping the actual blade instead of the handle. "Derp," Duncan laughed.

"Shut up and scream," I growled.

"Yes ma'am," he winked. "AAAAHHHHH! HELP ME! NO! AAAHHH! STOP IT! AAAAHHH!"

Damn, he was convincing even to me. I remembered my part and started laughing maniacally. After ten or more seconds the door busted down and in walked two henchmen of Blackwood. One ran to me and took my switchblade, the other ran to Duncan.

This was the difficult part I didn't mention to Duncan. They would realize there's no blood on the knife and he's not stabbed. So I did what most young woman would do in a desperate situation— I elbowed the guy behind me and flung him over my shoulder onto the next guy, front kicking down into his esophagus so he'd lose his breath. Duncan stared at me in complete shock for only one moment. He then smirked and started to beat up the guys with me.

The henchman I got was bald, the one Duncan got had a tattoo of a skeleton on his neck, and both of them were built like freight trains. Whatever. The bigger they are the harder they'll fall.

He came at me with a punch and I blocked with my forearm, quickly using my other arm to hit his upper-gut. This didn't faze him and he flung me back with a kick. I stumbled back but found my fighting stance. He came at me again and this time I wasted no time in punches and instead found my kicks more effective. A rear kick to his head and he stumbled back like I did. What I didn't expect was for him to instead kick off the wall and come straight at me like a bullet!

I got knocked to the ground and he was on top of me, his hands clamping down on my throat, choking me. His hands were huge, covering my neck completely. I gagged and choked. I knew that I only had eleven seconds before I would pass out or suffocate myself. Suddenly the pressure on my neck was released and I realized Duncan had speared him off of me.

Now both of the henchmen were attacking Duncan. He can't take two-on-one. That's it, this had to end now. I'm not sure what gave me incredible strength—adrenaline, seeing Duncan hurt, desperation to stop Blackwood—but something gave me the power to actually pull one of the henchman off of Duncan and deliver a swift punch to his stupid face!

**Bam!**

Fatal. He fell to the floor unconscious. Now there was one and Duncan easily took care of him. We stuffed the unconscious men into the closet but they wouldn't fit. "I suppose the chairs are our only option," I sighed.

"They don't deserve the comfy chairs," Duncan scoffed. "I won't feel bad if we leave them on the floor."

"Okay," I agreed, "Sounds good." We were both scuffed up and no doubt bruised. "What do you think the chances are that we run into more henchmen?" I asked him.

He shrugged. "I'd rather not think about it. Come on, if we're lucky and don't run into anymore distractions we should make our date with Blackwood."

**~X~X~X~**

Besides from Noah and Izzy and the campers that were kidnapped (Gwen, Trent, and Justin), everyone had no idea what danger they were in. They had no idea they were preparing for what could be their end, for Blackwood's sick game.

The first thing we agreed to do was free the ones kidnapped. We had to beat up and knock four more henchmen unconscious to do it too. When this was over, I'm going to need a physical therapist. My body was screaming for a break but that wasn't going to happen.

"Thank you Haley! Thank you so much! I thought no one would come! I thought I would die all by myself with just me and my beautiful face!" Justin exclaimed once I had freed him. Duncan was off freeing Gwen and Trent.

"Keep your voice down!" I exclaimed. "But you're welcome. Are you hurt? Did anyone hurt you?"

Justin shook his head. "No. They were actually sort of cool. They gave me a mirror too." He held it up. "You can tell by the ivory handle that this mirror wasn't cheap. They said I could keep it too."

"Yeah… that's great Justin, now come on, we need to join back up with Duncan."

Justin followed me down the hallway where I saw Duncan coming out with Gwen and Trent. "Haley!" Trent exclaimed. "I'm glad you're okay!"

My eyes went to Gwen. She knew I was Courtney because she figured me out. Why didn't she say anything? She kept it a secret? "Hey, Trent," I said weakly. "I hope you're okay after being kidnapped and everything."

"The guys treated us fine," Trent replied. "It was kind of like being grounded."

Gwen had her arms around Trent and wasn't getting anywhere near Duncan. "I tried texting Bridgette to warn her but my phone won't work," she said.

"None of our phones work," Duncan added. "Come on the show is going to start—"

"**And now without any further wait, here's the cast of Total Drama!" **

That was Chef's voice over the intercom. Even from down in the basement level we could hear fans cheering their heads off wildly. This was supposed to be the final showing of the reunion; it was going to be huge apparently, with four times as much audience and performances. I looked at Duncan and we both exchanged the same glance. We needed to hurry.

"Gwen, you and Trent and Justin get out of here. We need to go warn the others," I said.

Duncan shook his head. "We're way past warning, we need to try and stop it." I cussed under my breath. He was right.

"We're coming with you," Gwen suddenly stated.

"No, you're not," I argued.

She crossed her arms. "In case you haven't noticed, there's no exit in the basement level of this building. We have to follow you guys up regardless if we help you or not."

Gwen had a point. I nodded. "Come on then," Duncan urged. "Don't slow us down, pretty boy." Justin rolled his eyes and the three followed us as we started heading up the stairs to the next level.

"Is there a reason we're not taking the elevator?" Trent asked as we were flying up the flight of stairs.

"We're dealing with a psycho here babe, it's probably safer," Gwen answered.

Okay, seriously, were Gwen and Trent together or not? First they are, then they're not, then they act like they are, and now they seem like they are! I give up on trying keeping up with this romantic tension; I'll leave that for Bridgette.

We finally finished climbing the stairs and reached the level the reunion was being held on. Luckily there were tons (TONS) of people around, all fighting for snacks and seating for the show, so if there were anymore of Blackwood's henchmen they would have a hard time finding us.

There was only problem in being in a crowd filled with Total Drama fanatics… the fan girls.

"OHMYGAWD LOOK IT'S DUNCAN, GWEN, TRENT AND JUSTIN!" one voice shrieked.

"AFTER THEM!" another scream.

Suddenly Justin and Trent were literally dog-piled upon by fan girls! They were like ants, they just kept coming!

"WE LOVE YOU TRENT!"

"MARRY ME JUSTIN!"

"EHMEHGAWD TRENT IT'S REALLY YOU!"

"YOU'RE MY IDOL JUSTIN!"

Me, Duncan, and Gwen stared in horror. I couldn't even see Trent or Justin anymore, every inch of them were covered in crazy fan girl. "Go on without us!" Trent cried in a muffled voice.

We couldn't save them. They belonged to the fan girls now. "Come on," Gwen said "we need to hurry before they realize—"

"OMFG IT'S DUNCAN! GIRLS! IT'S DUNCAN!"

I suddenly hated the fact Duncan had the highest fan base. He just had to be the number one bad boy! "Run!" I yelled, grabbing Duncan's hand and running away from the mob of fan girls! We managed to somehow hide behind some trashcans. "This is fucking ridiculous!" I panted.

Duncan nodded. "Fames a bitch, what can I say." His cell phone rang. "Finally I've got reception," he hissed. "Hello?"

"You better be grateful for this, Duncan," the voice on the other line said.

"Gwen?" he asked.

"Tell Courtney I'm sorry and I hope this is a good enough apology."

Duncan looked down from his phone. "She hung up on me."

What did she mean, she hoped what was a good enough apology. I suddenly saw what she meant. Gwen had put on a green mow hawk and put on the same jean jacket Duncan had let her borrow a few days ago. She stood up on one of the tables and yelled, "Come on ladies, get a piece of bad boy!"

The fan girls started running towards Gwen. They believed she was him! "Wow… that's a really… noble sacrifice," Duncan muttered.

I nodded in agreement. "You're the best, Gwen."

**~X~X~X~**

We snuck through the audience, careful to keep our heads low and more towards people so we were in crowds. Duncan had put on some dark sunglasses and a fake mustache so people would recognize him. Luckily, no one has. He looked ridiculous. I couldn't help but laugh when he put on his mustache.

Bridgette, Geoff, and all the other Total Drama cast (excluding Trent, Gwen, Izzy, Noah, and Justin) were on stage and they were all performing a musical. Each one of the cast mates were dancing and singing around dressed in matching outfits, with Chris and Chef standing on the edge of the stage encouraging them.

"I'm the only one with the best shot of warning them, if I go on stage security won't try to stop me," Duncan whispered. "Stay here in the audience. I'll be back."

I nodded. "Okay."

He got up on stage. "Chris!" he exclaimed in a voice low enough so everyone didn't hear, "We need to stop this reunion. Blackwood here and he's planning on—"

"Who?" Chris asked. "I don't know a Blackwood."

"Yes you do!" Duncan hissed. "I'll explain later but as of right now."

It was like a timer was set. Everything happened at once that there was no way I could've stopped it. All the cast mates were wearing matching outfits with collars around their necks, and suddenly they fell over in pain because of electric shocks coming from the collars! Jail bars were suddenly thrown up that separated the audience from the stage and jail bars to stop the audience from running out of the rooms! I was trapped along with the other cast mates and I realized Blackwood had sealed out the exits!

"Ladies and gentlemen! Let the **real** drama begin!"

That was Blackwood's voice! I knew it! He stepped out on stage dressed all in black and had a dark look in his eyes. The cast mates were still on the floor in pain from the electric collars and he pushed a button to make it stop. "Bob? Is that you?" Chris asked.

"It's Blackwood now!" he hissed. "I'm surprised you recognized me, McLean!"

"What's going on here? This isn't a part of the show!"

Blackwood laughed. "This isn't your show anymore, McLean. This is my show now, the way it should've been all along. Your cast mates all belong to _me_ now. Every single one of them!"

He snapped his fingers and his henchmen came out, holding Gwen, Trent, Justin—oh no—they even got Noah and Izzy! Izzy was struggling out of their grasp but it was no use and Noah was fighting with no use too. Not them! They were my only hope of getting the cops!

"I'm glad I finally got a handle on you," Blackwood smiled to Izzy. "You've been a real wild child, haven't you?"

Izzy grunted. "Tell your buffoons to let me go and I'll show you how wild I can get!"

He laughed. "As crazy as ever. Put the collars on 'em boys." His henchmen nodded and snapped collars on everybody, Duncan, Gwen, Trent, Justin, Noah, even Chris and Chef. They were all under Blackwood's control.

But I wasn't noticed. I was off the stage and ducked under so he couldn't see me. The audience was in a panic and trying to escape but they weren't going anywhere with those bars. This was like a lockdown. A sick, twisted, lockdown.

Whether I'm part of Total Drama or not I'm stuck with them. There was no getting out.

"You all belong to me now," Blackwood said on stage.

"We don't belong to anyone you freak!" Heather shouted.

"You can't control us!" Eva agreed.

He chuckled. "On the other hand, I can very well control each and every one of you." He pressed a button on his remote and another shock spread out through the cast mates. "You like that?" Blackwood asked. "I can make the shock stronger too, if I wanted to." He flipped a switch and pressed the button again. Everyone screamed and cried as they were electrocuted even stronger! The audience went crazy in shock. "IF EVERYONE DOESN'T SETTLE DOWN AND SIT AND WATCH THEN THERE WILL BE CONSEQUENCES!" Blackwood screamed.

The audience sat down and horridly began watching Blackwood's sick show.

"Now," Blackwood said, composing himself. "Since all of you belong to me you have to do what I say when I say it. But before that happens I have to punish one of you for being disobedient." He walked over to Duncan. My heart started pounding louder and louder. "You," he said, "helped Haley escape. You certainly have been bad."

"Go to hell!" Duncan yelled.

Blackwood shocked the cast mates all over again. "Watch your tongue, delinquent. When you're bad everyone has to pay for it." He laughed. "Now I've got everyone of you in my grasp. All the cast members, everyone, finally you're all mine."

That was it. That was the last straw.

For three years I've let everyone think I was dead. Three long fucking years. But that's over with, that's enough, I'm tired of hiding from who I was! It doesn't matter who I was three years ago, it matters who I am now! I am Courtney Haley Vega, and I'm a good person! I'm not perfect and I never will be, but that doesn't make me a bad person! I'm a wonderful person, a great person, and I'm not about to stand and watch my friends die!

"Hey, Blackwood!" Everyone turned their head and suddenly there I was, on stage, glaring straight at the evil man. There was a smirk on my face and my eyes were wild with determination.

He stared at me with calculating eyes. "Haley," he said. "Why, I thought you left the party early."

"Me? No, why would I leave the party? I'm here to _crash_ it." My voice was hard, venomous, unrelenting. He doesn't know who he's dealing with.

Blackwood smiled. "I'll break you in half, little girl."

"You already tried to break me, remember?" I retorted. "But your plan failed you see, because you can't break what's already broken." His eyes widened. Everyone was looking at me. Everyone. All eyes were on me. I took a couple teasing steps. "But luckily for me, I put myself back together again. And believe it or not, I have an offer for you, an offer I'm hoping you'll consider listening to."

He raised a brow. "Oh?"

"Haley get out!" Duncan yelled.

"I'll shock you until you're unconscious," Blackwood hissed. He turned back to me. "I'm listening."

I put my hands on my hips. "You're collecting the cast, aren't you? They're like a hobby for you, a collection?"

"For the most part, yes," he grinned slyly. "We all have hobbies. Some are more twisted than others. I collect celebrities."

"I'm sure you do," I replied. "Well Blackwood, I hate to say it, but your collection is incomplete."

His face remained composed but I could tell in his eyes he was wondering what I meant. "Go on," he said.

"You're missing someone," I stated simply. "You're missing Courtney."

Blackwood laughed. It was a serial vicious laugh. "Courtney died three years ago. Courtney is dead."

"No she's not."

"How do you know?"

I smirked. "Because I'm Courtney."

The audience gasped and the cast-mates who had no idea gasped too. "That's impossible!" Chris exclaimed.

Blackwood's eyes went wild. "Prove it!" he snarled. "Prove to me you're Courtney!"

"Alright," I agreed, "You're probably the biggest Total Drama nerd out there. Ask me a question only I would know. Ask me anything."

He thought for a moment. "Alright," he said, "What was Courtney Vega's last journal entry blog before she went missing and drowned?"

I thought back to that time. It was going back three years ago, the day before TDWT's finale when I was staying in a Hawaiian hotel. I remembered that day for a multiple of reasons:

For one thing, the weather was horrible and my skin felt sticky all over. The hotel service was awful; it took them two hours to deliver me room service. Bridgette and Geoff had the room next to mine and I could hear them make-out almost all day. The only thing I could do was get on my laptop.

"My last journal entry was about how Hawaii was the worst vacation spot. I was complaining about the humidity and the room service of the hotel, and how cheap Chris was to get a second-rate 3 star resort when there was a 5 star hotel across the street. I ramble on about that for three paragraphs and then I get into my time on TDWT and how I thought it was the worst time I had spent during my whole life.

"Then I continued talking about the cast-mates, talking trash about every single one of them. How much I hated Katie and Sadie's fan-girling, Owen and his disgusting eating, Eva looking like a man, really, I was being totally nasty and hurtful. But the last one I talked about was Gwen. I said how she was a man-stealing whore and that she and Duncan can get married and have as many ugly children as they want, I wouldn't care."

Blackwood nodded. "Anyone could've told me that if they had read the blog."

"True," I agreed. "But I also misspelled Katie's name and spelled it with a 'C', forgot to capitalize the 'H' in Hawaii, and spelled disgusting 'D-I-S-G-U-I-S-T-I-N-G' with an 'I'. How else would I know that unless I really am Courtney? Only Courtney would remember her own spelling and grammar mistakes."

"Holy shit," Blackwood mumbled, "it really is you."

"That's right," I smiled. "And if you let the audience go free, I'll give myself to you so you can complete your collection."

"HA! What makes you think you're in any position to be making deals, _Courtney_? You're outnumbered and I could kill you faster than you think."

"True. But you'd be killing me on your terms." I took out Duncan's switchblade and took it to my throat.

"NO! COURTNEY!" Bridgette, Gwen, and Izzy cried.

"If I die your collection will never be complete. Let the audience go," I warned. "Or else."

**Author's Note:**

**OH-EM-DOUBLE-GEE THE DRAAAAAAAMAAAAA! Aahahahahaha! Okay I have a lot to cover in this author's note so let's get started.**

**First of all, instead of making two chapters I made one big long chapter. Why? Because my sister is moving and she's taking her laptop. So my computer time will be crunched down. I'm now on a timeline to finish this story, so instead of prolonging it, I will make one long one, like this one. **

**There is probably one more long chapter left. Just think of it as two big ones instead of four small ones. You're not getting cheated. I'm sorry to do this, but I want to get this story finished before my sister moves. It's easier on me. Trust me. **

**So, maybe one more chapter before this story is over. I might do an epilogue chapter, so maybe two chapters. In fact, there is a good chance this story has two chapters left. **

**I really want to have a goal and make this story get over 200 reviews. I just think that will be awesome. But I just want to say whatever amount of reviews I get I'm thankful and appreciative. You all rock. **

**I'm also sorry I didn't update. Things have been hectic. And by hectic I mean hectic. Yes, hectic. Crazy. Insane. Loco. El Polo Loco. The crazy chicken. Wait, what?**

**Now I'm rambling. Anyway, thank you so much for reading and please review!**

**Much love and nachos,**

**~Luna **


	18. Stand up and Fight!

**The Long Road of Redemption**

**Chapter Sixteen: Stand Up and Fight!  
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**~X~X~X~**

Blackwood was immediately wary of me. I knew it, he didn't want me dead, and threatening to take a switchblade to my throat caught his attention. Of course I wasn't _really_ going to kill myself, but he didn't know that. No one knew it, actually, and I could see in everyone's eyes they thought I was really going to take my own life. I hated the look in Duncan's eyes, I hated that I was making him think he was going to lose me twice. But he had to believe it, because if he believed it, Blackwood believed it.

"Now hold on now, Courtney," Blackwood said carefully. "Put the blade down."

_Be strong Courtney. You have to act insane if this is really going to work_.

"I bet it'd kill you to see me die before you could finish your collection," I laughed. "In fact, I wish I could see myself die just to see the look on your stupid face."

"Put the knife down," he repeated.

"Or what?" I challenged. "What else is there to do, Blackwood?"

He suddenly took Noah by the arms and held him by the neck off the edge of the stage. "The drop is at least ten feet down," he smirked. "And ten feet is a long way to go when you're being _thrown_."

"Courtney, please think about this wisely," Noah said meekly

Damn it. I lost control of the situation! "Okay," I said, "Okay, you win." I started to lower the switchblade down from my throat.

"Maybe," Blackwood hummed. "But you're so defiant I've got a point to make with you."

"NO!"

Blackwood threw Noah off the stage by his throat! I shut my eyes, expecting a crash, a cracking of bones, a groan of pain coming from poor Noah. None of that happened. In fact, only one sound was made after he threw Noah:

"Yowza! You've been working out, you're a little heavier than I thought."

What the?

Blackwood leaned down and there were Noah and Izzy, safely at the bottom of the stage. "What's the crackers?" Izzy called up to him. "You know for an evil dude you'd think you'd realize when one of your prisoners escape. But whatever."

He yelled in rage, "HOW DARE YOU!"

**_WHAM!_**

While his back was turned Duncan came up from behind and shoved him off the stage! "That's for almost killing everyone!" he shouted. Duncan turned to me. "Are you okay?"

"Where's the remote?" Bridgette suddenly asked. "The remote that controls our electric collars, where is it?"

"I've got it!" Izzy exclaimed. She held it up to show us, "I took it from him when he was-"

_Beep!_

"IZZY!" everyone groaned as they fell down in pain from the electric shocks! Noah grabbed the remote from her and pushed the button again. "You no longer get remote control!"

"No!" Izzy was all happening to fast! One minute we're winning and the next minute Blackwood's henchmen are attacking everyone in full force! Izzy jumped on stage next to me. "We need to fight them off until the cops get here!" she exclaimed.

Blackwood started running off, out through a secret door behind the stage. "He's going to get away!" Noah said.

"No he's not!" Duncan replied. "I'm going after him!"

"You can't go alone!" I cried. I grabbed him by the shoulders so he'd look at me. "Duncan, you can't face him alone."

He smirked and his icy blue eyes gleamed. "Sorry Princess, but criminals are known for doing what they're not supposed to do." He gave me a quick kiss on the lips and ran off in the same direction as Blackwood. Before I could react to his impulsive behavior, Gwen shouted my name, and I turned to see all the cast members fighting his henchmen.

"Court!" Gwen exclaimed. "We need to open the bars so the audience can get free and the police can come in!"

I nodded. "Right! Izzy, make sure no henchmen come after use!"

"On it!" she nodded.

Gwen and I ran off the stage and towards the bars that separated us from the audience. "How do we even get the bars down?" I asked her. She studied the bars carefully. "Gwen, we don't have much time," I pressed.

"I know, I'm thinking."

"Can you think faster?"

"Is ham pork?"

"What?"

"Aha! I've got it!" Gwen grabbed two of the bars and started shaking it violently! "These are standard jail bars, if you shake them they'll come loose from the ceiling!" I nodded and went to the opposite side to shake the bars. "Hey!" Gwen yelled to the audience. "If you guys want to get the hell out of here help us shake these!"

From the opposite side of the bars, audience members grabbed on and started shaking it back and forth to help us. In the crowd, I saw the two little girls Raquel and Grace again. "I had no idea you were really Courtney!" Raquel squealed.

"That's great kid," I grunted, trying to shake the bars even more now.

"I'm a DxC fan again," Raquel said, "I knew DxG wasn't meant for me! I knew I should've stayed a DxC believer!"

I couldn't help but smile. "Me too kid, me too."

After a couple good shakes, the bars came off and me, Gwen, and the audience threw the damned bars that had trapped us off into the wall! "Now run!" Gwen shouted. "Run and get the cops!"

The audience headed towards the exit like a wild flock of pigs waiting for a feeding. "Single file!" I exclaimed.

"Really Courtney?" Gwen laughed.

I shrugged. "I had to say it."

She laughed. "Good to have you back."

It seemed like my luck was turning. After the audience members escaped the cops came crashing in. Whoa! Noah and Izzy didn't just get the cops, they got the SWAT team! SWAT came crashing in with guns, and immediately Blackwood's henchmen gave up, clearly knowing this fight was over. The cops have just now arrived but Duncan and Blackwood have been gone at least seven or eight minutes! Could they have gone far?

"Officerf Ham! Ham!" I exclaimed, running towards him.

"Stay back Haley! We have not scaled the whole situation!" he yelled. Ham pushed me back into one of the theater seats. The cast members were being helped by the SWAT and the henchmen were being taken away in was yelling about all of this being on camera and how much his ratings were going to soar.

I got out of my seat and ran towards Officer Ham again. "Blackwood isn't here!" I yelled. "He's gone, and Duncan went after him!"

"Where did he go then?" Ham asked. "We need to have Blackwood in our custody, he's a murderer with a trace of crimes and felonies worth life sentencing!"

"I don't know where he is!" I cried. "But that's what I'm trying to tell you, Duncan is alone and was going after him!"

That's when it suddenly occurred to me; Blackwood was the sadistic kind of maniac, the one who doesn't just run away. He's the kind of guy who has back up plans, master plans, doesn't tell anyone everything he has planned. That was it. He's got more planned. This is too easy. The cops and SWAT can come in but that won't stop him. Duncan won't stop him. Duncan is in serious danger... no... we're all in danger.

I love you, Duncan Adams. Perhaps it's that blind sort of love that was the reason I knew something wasn't right. All I know is, it was that love that took me to the roof of the Entertainment Center, that took me to my final hour.

**~X~X~X~**

I just remember running. Where? I'm not sure. But I wanted to escape. I wanted to escape the police and the cast mates. The police were asking questions, taking away the henchmen, everything was so overwhelming, happening so quickly- it felt like my brain was going to explode! I had to get out, get away, find Duncan! He was an idiot for taking off after that maniac. But I was an idiot for letting him go- without telling him how I felt about him.

When I took off running I went through the same secret passageway Blackwood went. That secret way took my to a flight of stairs. I kept climbing up, higher and higher, thinking-praying-_hoping_ it would lead me to Duncan. Higher and higher, the stairs were winding like a twisted slide. I was tired, mentally and physically, but I kept climbing. Higher and higher.

Then there was a blue colored door and I was so determined I kicked it open! There a wild whist of wind blew through my hair and billowed my clothes. That's when I knew I was on the roof. And I knew, I knew he was here. Duncan. But if Duncan was here, so was _him_ and it was because of _him_ that I couldn't relax, I had to stay focused.

The roof was flat but I was hidden by a huge billboard sign advertising toothpaste. I slowly crept to the edge, looking out to the rest of the roof.

There they were. Duncan was on the ground with his hands tied behind his back and Blackwood was standing there. Behind him was something that made my heart sink with the realization I was right- a bomb. Blackwood was planning this. He had the bomb on the roof all along. If something went wrong, kaboom. I knew it. I knew it wouldn't be this easy.

"You can come out now, Courtney. I knew you'd come."

I stepped out from behind the billboard and Blackwood smiled.

"I knew you'd be there," he said in a sing-song tune.

"Well maybe I knew you knew I would be here."

Duncan lifted his head up. "Don't waste time Court! Go downstairs and warn everybody to get out of the building!"

"No!" I cried. "I've come for you!"

"DON'T COME NEAR ME!"

Tears poured down my cheeks and I looked up to see Blackwood laughing. "You don't see a detonator anywhere, do you?" he asked. I looked at Duncan's desperate face and fell to my knees. "That's because the detonator is on your little criminal. If he makes one move, the bomb will set off."

"NO!" I screamed. "No, Duncan, it'll be alright!"

Blackwood laughed. "Will it? Will you run downstairs and warn everyone? Will you abandon Duncan and let him die to save the others?"

"Do it, Courtney," Duncan said. "You have to."

"No," I cried. Tears were freely falling down my cheeks and my body wracked with sobs. "No, Duncan, it can't end like this. Just a week ago we were..."

"I know," he mumbled. "But ask yourself, Princess. Am I worth it? Am I worth everyone's death? I've lived the life of a criminal. A cheating criminal who just wanted money and fame. Am I worth it?"

"Yes," I whispered. "Because you've changed too." His eyes widened slightly at my words. "We both changed," I murmured. "We used to be miserable teens wanting to get famous, but now we're adults. We've had enough taste of life to give us a change of heart. We've changed."

Fate was what made me decide to swim out to sea and get away from everyone.

Fate was what brought me to Sam, the kindest man I had ever met, and convinced me to stay with him.

Fate was what made me turn on the TV during breakfast and see Total Drama Reunion advertised.

Fate was what brought me to the audience of the Reunion Show.

Fate was what brought me to Duncan, Izzy, Noah and Bridgette.

Fate was cruel, fate was kind, but whatever it was it was how I ended up where I was right now. Funny thing about Fate... it also appeared to be on my side.

Blackwood was still laughing, still enjoying himself and the sick production he was putting on. I'm not sure if it was the strong gust of wind that made him step back, or perhaps Fate pushed him itself; either way he stumbled back somehow, lost his footing, lost his balance and-

**Slam!**

Down he went. Off the building. Like he was nothing more than a twig falling off a tree. He fell ten stories down. He was dead. Dead. The mass murdering psycho was dead. Fucking good riddance, bitch.

Now it was Duncan and I. Kneeling down beside him I saw a strap around his back, where the detonator was. "You're still not giving up, are you?" he asked me.

"No," I smirked. "What do you know about bombs?"

"Quite a bit."

"That doesn't surprise me." I looked at the bomb a few feet away. "It's a Class 87BC-654. Does that mean anything to you?"

Duncan nodded. "Yeah, it means we're fucked."

"Damn it!" I swore."What does it mean?"

"A Class 87BC-654 bomb will set off the minute I move. When it explodes, say goodbye to the Entertainment Center."

"How powerful?" I asked.

"Powerful."

"Will it reach the others on the ground floor?" I asked. Duncan thought for a moment. "Is it powerful enough to blow up 10 stories of building?" I asked.

He grunted. "No. But it will probably take out five."

"So the others will be safe?"I asked. He nodded yes. I stood up and headed for the billboard.

"Courtney, what are you thinking?" Duncan asked, his voice suspicious and afraid.

I found what I was looking for. A hatch. "This is an escape hatch," I called to him. I opened it up. "It leads to the elevator system!"

"That's great," Duncan called. "Why the fuck does it matter, though?" I stood up and walked back over to him, standing over him. He looked up at me with wide-eyes. "Princess..." he stammered, "What are you thinking?"

"Do you trust me?"

"At this point I'm not sure..."

I smirked. "Too bad." I leaned down onto Duncan and grabbed his shirt collar. "I love you," I whispered. Just in case my plan wouldn't work, at least he'd know. At least, at least, at least.

My hands wrapped around his shirt and I flung Duncan forward, sending him flying through the air!

_Beep, beep, beep!_

A torrent of heat rushed past me. My eyes were closed as I jumped through the escape hatch and descended down, following Duncan as he fell. The explosion was set up and coming quickly behind me!

**BAM!**

Suddenly my body crashes on something hard and it's the elevator. I knew I'd feel it impact on me. The loud whirring of the explosion takes out my hearing, I can't hear but I can see, just enough to see Duncan beside me. He reaches out and embraces me, and I decide that if my plan fails and I die, I will die in his arms, which doesn't seem so bad. The cords and electric system holding up the elevator snaps and we're falling again, faster and faster down, and the flames are chasing us!

I know we're going to crash, when the elevator reaches the bottom floor it will explode and that will be the end of me and Duncan. But at least it won't be the end of just me, and just Duncan, it will be the end of us, together.

Fate, you're a miracle worker.

Duncan somehow finds the strength and reaches out, grabs a cord that hadn't snapped, and pulls both of us out from the top of the elevator. We're no longer falling, we're inside the elevator shaft, and we're safe.

We survived.

**~X~X~X~**

"Courtney? . Come on now kid, open your eyes."

I know that voice. I missed that voice so much and for a second I thought I died and went to heaven. "Sam?" I whispered. My eyes opened and there he was, smiling over me. I realized I was in the hospital and he was standing over my bed. "Sam?" I asked again, "Am I dead."

"No. But you forgot my souvenir."

"Huh?"

"Just kidding. Too early for jokes I see. Come on now, wake up Courtney."

I opened my eyes fully and yawned. "Okay, okay, mind filling me in on what happened?"

"You're in a hospital. You're also a hero, Courtney. You and Duncan saved the city."

"W-what? H-how?"

"The bomb. It was a power building bomb, it needed to accumulate enough energy to blow up the city. But you and Duncan exploded it before it got enough power and you saved a lot of lives, even manage to get your own." Sam smiled and gave my hand a light squeeze. "I'm proud of you kid. I'm glad I saved you from the ocean and put you on my boat those years ago."

"I'm glad too."

"Well, duh." We laughed. "I'll give you two some time to rest. Don't worry, everyone is safe," Sam assured. He left the hospital room.

Wait, you two? I turned my head and saw Duncan in another hospital bed beside mine. He had bandages on his hand and right arm, but other than that, he was alive. "The old guy gone?" he muttered.

I laughed. "Show some respect! That was Sam!"

He smirked. "He smells like cottage cheese."

"That's Sam's favorite snack."

"Well it stinks."

I laughed. "Shut up, Duncan."

He reached out and grabbed my hand with his. "Whatever, Princess." We smiled at each other from across the hospital beds.

**Author's Note:**

**I'm really sorry my update took longer than I intended it to. No. Computer. Access. Hardly. So I'm trying to juggle my stories. This story only had one more chapter left! AKA the epilogue lol. Anyway, I wanna say Happy Halloween to everyone, I'm going to eat dark chocolate and get my freak on. Listen to Thriller, by Michael Jackson. Egg some houses. Wear a witch hat. All that good stuff. (JK about egging houses)**

**Anyway, I wanna give a shout-out to Princess Absahail. I remember a loooong time ago when we were PMing back and forth I told her about this story and asked if she thought it was a good idea. She said yes, which made me post it. Now it's my most reviewed story (so far). So thanks everyone, you're all awesome! **

**I'm so sad this story is ending. But because of my computer situation, I'm a little relieved. So, I'll see you for one more chapter. Lots of love!**

**~Luna  
><strong>


	19. Epilogue

The** Long Road of Redemption**

**~*~Epilogue~*~**

**~X~X~X~**

It was no longer summer. Fall came and passed over Canada, then winter blew in, and finally spring came over us. It was the best spring I had ever experienced. The weather wasn't too cold, too hot, it was just nice. So, it made perfect sense for Bridgette and Geoff to have their wedding outdoors.

"Oh my gosh, Courtney, I can't breathe. What if he doesn't say yes?" Bridgette asked me.

"The whole point of a wedding is that he does say yes," I assured her.

"What if someone objects? What if someone doesn't hold their peace?" she continued to panic.

"You and Geoff don't have any crazy exes," Gwen pointed out.

"That's not true! In seventh grade I had a boyfriend named Randall! WHAT IF RANDALL OBJECTS?"

Gwen and I exchanged looks. "I'm sure the chances of your old ex boyfriend from the seventh grade showing up on your wedding day and objecting to your matrimony is very low," I told her. "You're going to be fine. Everything will be fine. You'll say 'I do' and then have fun at the reception party. Okay?"

Bridgette continued to hyperventilate. Finally Izzy smacked her in the head. "Thanks, I needed that," Bridgette breathed. "Okay, how do I look? Am I pretty? No, wait, am I beautiful? Pretty won't cut it on my wedding day. PRETTY WON'T BE ENOUGH."

"You look gorgeous," Gwen and I said at the same time. We weren't lying, either. Bridgette was wearing a beautiful white wedding gown, sleeveless, with sequined floral designs along the bottom rim and a light blue sash across the waist. Our bridesmaid gowns matched the blue sash and were sleeveless as well. Me, Gwen, and Izzy were Bridgette's bridesmaids. Well, I wasn't a bridesmaid I was the maid of honor. Yeah, I never thought that would happen either.

While Bridgette continued to freak out and Izzy and Gwen continued to calm her, I stepped out of the women's room for some air. Guests were arriving and started to sit in the hundreds of chairs set up underneath a designed gazebo. I sat down on one of the chairs in the back row where I was more isolated.

After that crazy reunion week last summer, I decided to live back where my friends were. I was through with hiding and pretending I was dead. Now, I'm even more alive than I ever was. Everyone now knows who I am. I'm Courtney. Not Haley. Not the same girl who was on Total Drama all those years ago. I'm respected for who I am. Me.

"I swear, I'm gonna burn this friggin tux when I get the chance." I smiled and turned my head around to see Duncan sitting behind me. He still had his same mow hawk and was wearing a blue tuxedo that matched my dress. Duncan didn't look good in blue. Period.

"You can't burn that, it's a rental," I pointed out.

"I don't care. This thing is itchy as hell," he grumbled.

"Duncan, this is a wedding. You're supposed to be happy and joyous to be around," I teased.

He scoffed. "Right. Getting married is the most stressful thing a couple can go through. Did you know that couples gain weight from all that stress? I read that couples gained weight."

It was my turn to scoff. "HA! When do you read?"

Duncan laughed. "Okay, you've got me there. Noah read it and told me. I just wanted to make it sound like I read it." He got up from his seat and jumped over a chair, now in the same row as me and sitting down. "One nice thing about weddings," he smirked, "wedding cakes."

"Bridgette is a vegetarian," I pointed out.

"So, the wedding cake isn't meat."

"No, but it's also lactose free, sugar-free."

All he needed to hear was sugar-free to freakout. "WHAT? You're telling me their wedding cake is going to suck ass?"

I chuckled. "No. I'm totally lying. You're just funny when you freak out."

Duncan gave me a wild look. "Well, well, well, it looks like Princess removed the pole from her butt and is having some fun, huh?" He smirked. "You can't beat me at my own game, Princess."

"Bring it on," I challenged.

"Are you two done being stupid? Because the wedding is ready to start." Duncan and I looked up to see Noah standing over us. "No offense, but you two are the worst maid of honor and best man I've seen."

Duncan and I exchanged looks. "You're just jealous," we both said at the same time.

Noah rolled his eyes. "Whatever. Geoff will live with his mistake for the rest of his life. Now come on, we've got to-"

"HEY NOAH!" Izzy exclaimed, bouncing over to him and hugging him tight. "I just found out the flavor of the wedding cake! Guess what it is, I bet you'll never guess it, you shouldn't even try, it's so hard to guess, GUESS IT."

"Uhhh chocolate?" Noah stammered.

Izzy laughed maniacally and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "It's a surprise," she said in a sing-song tune. "Let's go!"

She then dragged Noah off towards the dressing rooms that were set up. "Are they a couple or not?" I asked Duncan.

He shrugged. "I'm not really sure. Damn though, I wanted to know the flavor of the cake."

**~X~X~X~**

"And do you, Bridgette Taylor, take Geoff Howard as your lawfully wedded husband, in sickness and in health, until death do you part?"

"I do."

"And do you, Geoff Howard, take Bridgette Taylor as your lawfully wedded wife, in sickness and in health, until death do you part?"

"I do."

"Then, if anyone objects, speak now or forever hold your peace," the preacher said.

During the silence that would be used for objection, Bridgette shouted to the audience, "I'LL KILL YOU IF YOU RUIN THIS FOR ME RANDALL!"

"Who's Randall?" Geoff whispered.

"Irrelevant. Sweetie," Bridgette smiled. I palm-smacked my face in frustration.

"Then, if there are no objections, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride," the preacher finished.

Everyone cheered as Bridgette and Geoff shared a smooch to seal the deal of their matrimony. When the broke off, everyone stood up and clapped, and Geoff fist pumped the air proclaiming, "LET'S PARTY!"

**~X~X~X~**

I was tipsy. Not drunk. Tipsy. Of course Bridgette and Geoff's reception party would have alcohol. We're all adults. We're all over twenty-one. Well, okay, I'm still twenty. But it's not like I'm fourteen or whatever, I'm just one year off. No cops were going to show up. Right? Right. Oh my god, what if cops showed up? No, they weren't going to show up. You can't even smell the alcohol on my breath. Right? OH GOD. I NEED A BREATH MINT!

"Court, what are you doing?" Duncan asked me.

I was frantically going through my purse. "I need a breath mint," I said in a panic. "Cops. Cops. COPS."

Duncan could hold his liquor better than I could. "Babes, no cops are going to show up. It's a wedding." Duncan took my purse away from me. "Eat your cake. It's vanilla-strawberry."

"Why? So I can get FAT?" I whined.

He chuckled. "It's official. You're a whiny-panic-drunk."

"Oh yeah? Well you're a mean-drunk. MEAN. With a capital MEH. And when the cops show they're gonna arrest meeee."

"Listen to me, Princess. No. Cops. Are. Going. To. Show. U-uh?" Duncan turned his head in surprise and my head followed. "It's Ham!" Duncan exclaimed.

"That's Sheriff Ham to you," I informed. "What is he doing here?"

"I don't know."

"Why is he approaching us?"

"I don't know."

"WHY ARE THERE NO MINTS?"

"I DON'T KNOW."

Sheriff Ham stood at our table. "Courtney, Duncan," he greeted. Okay Courtney, in your intoxicated state, try and make it seem like you're in a toxicated state. "I just came to stop by, I was told you two would be here."

"Uh, hi," I greeted. "Nice to see you again. What can I do for you?"

"The Canadian Police Force and I wanted to award you with these plaques in honor of helping us catch and stop Blackwood." Ham handed me a golden plaque with my name on it and the seal of the police.

I was speechless. "I... I never thought... I... is this for real?" I stammered.

"Yes. Thank you, Courtney. You helped make Canada a safer place."

"Thank you. Thank you so much," I awed.

"What? So the fact I almost died means NOTHING to the you guys?" Duncan demanded.

Ham sighed and handed him a plaque with his name on it. "There you go son. Now shut up." Ham nodded and put back on his hat. "Don't forget what you did," he smiled. "And please, stay away from my brother and Chris. It'd be better for all of us." With one more smile he left the wedding and stepped onto the beach towards the parking lot.

I smiled and turned to Duncan. "Who would've thought, right?"

"Yeah," he smiled. "I freaking love you, Court."

"Yeah," I smiled. "Me too. Well, you know love you. You know what I mean."

Duncan laughed. "I do."

"Hey guys! You got a plaque too!" Izzy exclaimed. She bounced over to us with Noah by her side. They were both holding plaques. "All four of us got one," she giggled. "We were such the dynamic duo!"

"Duo means two. There were four of us," Noah pointed out. "And they spelled my last name wrong. Big surprise."

"Quit being a big ol' poo. Come on guys, Bridgette is going to throw her bouquet, maybe if you're lucky you'll catch it Courtney." Izzy then bounced off, taking Noah with her, cheering, "WHOO! WEDDING CAKE!"

I looked down at my left finger. Placed on it was a gold band with a simple white diamond in the center. "I don't need to catch her bouquet," I smiled. Duncan smirked.

My name is Courtney Haley Vega. When I was sixteen I went on the show Total Drama Island, then Total Drama Action, and finally Total Drama World Tour. Through the course of those three shows I managed to be a bitch and lose track of who I really was. I faked my own death and let the world believe I drowned. I met a nice old man named Sam who helped me find kindness again. I let the world believe I was gone for three years. Then, I came back and I let the world believe I was Haley. I reunited with Bridgette, Izzy, Noah, and made up with Gwen. I fell back in love with Duncan. I stopped a psychotic criminal named Blackwood from killing hundreds of people. I embarked on a long road of redemption.

And now, the road has ended. It turns out, happy endings are possible.

**Author's Note:**

**:'( The story is now over. I just wanted to say I'm really, really, really, REALLY, sorry for not updating in SOOOOO long! I'm so sorry! I feel like I let you guys down! But I finally finished this tale and I'm sad and happy at the same time. **

**I'm so close to 200 reviews I can taste it... **

**Anyway, I just wanted to give endless appreciation and thanks for everyone who clicked, read, reviewed and favorited this story. It truly means a lot and I mean that from the bottom of my heart. Thank you all so much. And I hope you enjoyed the epilogue as well! **

**Thank you for reading and please review. It's been a blast writing, it really has :) **

**BRIDGETTE AND GEOFF'S WEDDING CAKE FOR EVERYONE! YEEEEEAAAAAHHH!**

**~Luna**


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